Pietersen won't let leading role run him down

Most cricket fans, even some of Pietersen's strongest supporters, questioned out loud the wisdom of putting the country's best batsman in charge of both Test and one-day sides. And, barely three weeks into his reign, no jury worth listening to will return a verdict just yet.

So far, however, Pietersen is not only revelling in the role of leader but also, crucially, learning when to take off the captain's armband and put on his batting head.

He scored a century in his first innings as Test skipper and then came up with a match-turning knock of 90 not out when England launched their NatWest series campaign by beating South Africa at Headingley last Friday.

Pietersen's bat was not needed at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, with the visitors being thrashed by 10 wickets before the floodlights were turned on. But it will be tomorrow if the Proteas come out fighting in round three at The Oval, and the captain knows what he must do.

"It's a very gruelling and demanding job with so much more to it than I envisaged," said Pietersen while spending a couple of hours yesterday meeting fans attending the NatWest cricket roadshow inside London's O2 Arena.

"I've discovered that in three weeks, especially with the Pakistan [Champions Trophy] situation. The number of phone calls you make, the meetings you go to, the people you talk to, the information you receive. It's like, 'Can I bat now?'

"But what I've tried to do is deal with all that and then when it comes time to bat I'm not a captain. I'm a batsman when I bat and I need to score runs. I'm not the captain of England any more, I'm here to score runs. That's what I'm paid to do and what I need to do.

"That's how I try to focus on my batting and it's how I intend to keep going."

If Pietersen continues to produce the goods, as he has so far against South Africa, then fears that the cares of captaincy could weigh him down will be well and truly banished. Indeed, there is some evidence - from the horse's mouth - that being skipper could concentrate the mind, rather than confuse it.

"The man-management side of things keeps me involved in everything, which is cool because sometimes I cruise off and lose myself," he confessed. "I'm loving it. Mind you, I don't think it's a job you can do for longer than four, five or six years because it's very stressful."

Pietersen has seen the stress side of it from close up, watching predecessor Michael Vaughan being worn down. But his memory bank also contains graphic footage from that golden summer of 2005, when Australia were beaten, and he believes there are similarities between now and then in terms of camaraderie.

"I can promise you that right now everyone in that England dressing room is a close friend, and that's one of the things I like best," he said.

"That's how it was when we beat Australia in 2005. There was that unity and that team bond where you can say anything to anybody. There's an honesty and an appreciation of each other's roles."

And without even thinking about it, Pietersen has drifted from past to present tense. "Everybody is helping each other, its magnificent at the moment. Everybody is playing with a smile on their face. I get text messages from all over the world with people asking how this team has become a happy, smiling unit that looks like it can destroy anybody.

"Maybe because it's a new era and it's fresh, but I'm going to keep it [this way] as long as possible. I love it. I speak to the guys on a daily basis about challenging ourselves to do better and better.

"The key to it is how well the guys have turned around the Test series loss to South Africa and how brilliant they've been in acknowledging that there's a new era and new goals, and understanding how I play my cricket and how I want my boys to play their cricket: the aggression side, playing every single day like it's your last. All those old cliches, the pride, the passion and so on, but that's how I want us to play."

Pietersen makes no bones about his good luck in having four 90mph fast bowlers with a fit-again Andrew Flintoff and the revitalised Steve Harmison following Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad into England's attack.

"No other captain in the world has got that and I'm very fortunate," he said.

Then again, Pietersen was instrumental in persuading Harmison to come out of one-day retirement while Flintoff, a former skipper himself, seems to be enjoying the new regime and playing like a man making up for lost time.

And when things do go wrong for the team? "There is definitely the strength of character to deal with that." assures Pietersen.

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