To drop or not to drop?

Of late, a lot of attention has been given to the failings of one time England sensation and probably our Cricket team's only household name, Kevin Pietersen. Some have considered his recent slump to be worthy of a spell in the sidelines, others consider this to be a momentary lapse and can see his next big knock just around the corner. For me though, his lack of runs gives England an opportunity to test out some other options.

Kevin Pietersen was once a formidable cricketer, and may still prove to be again in the future. He became the fastest ever batsman to reach 1000 and 2000 runs in ODI cricket and the fastest ever to reach 5000 test match runs in terms of time taken. Some of his centuries have been match winners as well, the most significant is perhaps his maiden century against Australia during the 2005 ashes. That was a long time ago though and he has not managed to score a century in a test match since March 2009 and since November 2008 in ODIs.

So what options do the ECB have? They could drop him, which would be a brave decision. Usually being dropped would involve going back to the county and gaining some confidence there, sadly for Pietersen though, Hampshire have made it clear that he is not very welcome there and so would be unlikely to get much time on the field. Alternatively he could spend some time with the Lions but this would very much be a demotion in his eyes and probably hinder any chance of building confidence. Of course the last resort, and the most likely, is to leave Pietersen in the squad.

If he were to be dropped there are a number of options for replacement. First, it is important to consider Ian Bell. He is injured at the moment but was in form before he broke his little toe. I would be very surprised if he wasn't in the squad for the ashes but is it time for him to take over at number 4 in the batting order. There is also Ravi Bopara, who was given a chance to shine for England but after a sensational three centuries in his first three matches, he fell to three ducks against Australia in 2009. They could promote Eoin Morgan up the order, but that may be a little premature having only played one match. Perhaps, if he goes on to produce more performances against Pakistan then there could be a case.

As I have said, it would take a brave selection committee to drop Pietersen but I believe it is a necessary decision. It is important to show each player that there place in the squad is conditional upon their performances. It is also important that we take players to Australia who can score runs and put in the big performances we require if we are to have any success on such unfamiliar wickets. Ultimately the ECB have to decide between the future success of English cricket or maintaining the celebrity of the team. I fear they will make the wrong decision.