2nd Test : The Fall Out - Time for Heroes

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
- Elizabeth Bishop, One Art

The veil of victory is a blessed one. It is a carapace shielding us from all other news; a vacuum from the minutiae of everyday life. But it is a fragile one. And, with the announcement that Kevin Pietersen is going to miss the rest of The Ashes series, our blissful bubble has been punctured once again. Our greatest player may have been lacklustre at Lord's but I had hoped that ten days' rest would have enabled him to recover form and fitness for the third test at Edgbaston. His performance at HQ was clearly blighted by his injury but the question remains - is a half fit KP better than our alternative batsmen?

Kevin is indisputably our best player. He is the only current English international with an average hovering on the 50 mark and he is the totem of our batting line-up. He has played 54 consecutive test matches since his debut. It is a remarkable run and indicative of his unique talent and almost instant integral status in the team. But this has been an annus horribilis for Kevin. The loss of the captaincy in January was followed by the first murmurs of discomfort in his ankle in the Caribbean and he has suffered his first loss of form since coming into the team. His average has not fallen significantly but his air of infallibility has evaporated.

The KP that has played in this Ashes series has looked a troubled one - a shadow of the bleached blingtastic boy of four years ago. His performance and demeanour at The Home of Cricket mean that he should have never have been selected for the second test. His batting was hampered as his mind had gone; the freedom that characterises his innings absent and replaced by panic. The injections may have satiated the pain somewhat but they had been unable to silence a new unfamiliar animal, Doubt. He was unable to run between the wickets properly and so he was incapable off getting of strike and rotating the pressure. This led directly to his dismissal in the second innings. In corollary, he was a futile presence in the field as the pain in ankle rendered running a huge effort and he constantly went off the field for treatment. With Freddie leaving the pitch for medical attention too, we saw an unprecedented number of twelfth men. It was a farce.

Some have sought to point fingers in anger. Most blame the ECB for Pietersen's injury. They believe their insistence that the ankle could be managed was a foolish one. However, I believe that their are several culpable characters in Kevin's demise : the man himself, his old nemesis Peter Moores and the ECB. I believe that The Achilles trouble stems from the stress of the events in January that threatened the reputations of all involved and led to KP's "resigning" from the captaincy and Moores being sacked as coach. Pietersen joined the team in The Caribbean straight after the debacle when it might have been sensible for him to take a break and take stock. He has admitted that the punishing running schedule he set himself whilst on tour in the West Indies exacerbated the injury. These runs were ironically detrimental to his fitness and were an act of self laceration. In the isolation of a long tour far away from home comforts aka The King's Road and his waggle Jessica, he sought to calm his mind by pounding his body. This was the ultimate masochistic act. The act of a disturbed sportsman. A man on the brink.

We hoped that through victory in this series Kevin's demons could be silenced but he has been denied the opportunity for public salvation. As he nurses himself back to health on the sofa, I hope that he finds solace in the progress of our team. FIGJAM never wanted to be a member of a one man team; the inferiority of his team-mates drove him to distraction and contributed to him risking the captaincy in the hope of securing regime change. Now, they can go on and win The Ashes without him. The departure of Moores has been the catalyst in an upsurge in the team's fortunes. Pietersen, unwillingly perhaps, has ultimately sacrificed himself for the good of the team.

On reflection, the news that KP is out for the rest of the series is a relief. It is a release from the notion that we are a one man batting band and time for the rest of our willow wackers to come out from the wings. I'm uncertain Mr Bell is the answer but it is time for messrs Cook and Bopara to announce themselves on The Ashes stage. Our batsmen are understudies no longer.