Does England Really Need Kevin Pietersen?

It has mainly been a summer to forget for England’s maverick star batsmen Kevin Pietersen. It all came about after an interview straight after the Second Test Match against South Africa on August 4^th where he scored an incredible 149 runs to virtually assure a stalemate in this rain affected match.

After the match when interviewed by Jonathan Agnew as part of the Test Match Special team he states that “it’s tough being in this dressing room” and admits he could be considering retiring from test cricket after the Third Test. This fractures his relations within the rest of the England dressing room.

Following on from the pre match interview, a week later various newspapers reveal that Kevin Pietersen had sent derogatory texts to several South African players about Andre Strauss. This made his position in the England team subsequently unattainable until he apologised. This text saga severely affected the harmony among the rest of the team and ultimately ended in the resignation and retirement of Andrew Strauss.

Following on from month of discussion and countless meetings the (ECB) English Cricket Board and Pietersen came to an agreement and he signed a four month central contract in all form of crickets.

This does however, include a period of integration with the rest of the team in a view to being named as a late addition to India test tour party if talks with the rest of the team go smoothly.

Former England Captain, Michael Vaughan said “The issue is, can Kevin Pietersen be allowed back in that dressing room?

“Now he has he got a four month trial period and the only way to find out is to go into the dressing room, make a speech and get round with some of the players he has had issues with, and have a beer.

The question is do England really need Kevin Pietersen in their team in this very important year which starts with a Tour of India and ends in back to back Ashes series against Australia. They would need him to be fully committed to the cause and not have his head turned by the chance to earn millions by playing in Indian Premier League.

He has supposedly committed himself to the cause by stating

“ I’m committed to completing the reintegration process we have agreed and representing England in all formats’ hopefully until the World Cup in 2015 if my body allows”.

Even though he is a top class batsmen he isn’t going to be able to walk straight back into the team if he comes back into the team soon it would most probably be at expense of Ravi Bopara who has consistently underperformed on the test circuit. Kevin Pietersen fits in very well at number four in the team, he has constantly been someone who has steadied the batting when things haven’t always gone to plan. I wouldn’t put him at Number 2 in the batting line up as i am sure England have worthy replacement for Strauss in Nick Compton. Nick Compton excelled over the summer by scoring the most runs in county cricket so he fully deserved his chance.

In the long run i think it would be best if England to have Kevin Pietersen in their starting line up as he has a lot of experience and can help nurture young players who are now in the squad such as Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor. If the determined Kevin Pietersen comes back then cricket fans all over the world get to grace the international batting masterclass once again and the Aussies will ultimately find it tough to regain the Ashes for the first time since 2007. If only they had sorted their differences out earlier maybe it would have been Stuart Broad holding the T20 trophy aloft rather than the West Indies Captain Chris Gayle.

Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win the ATP World Title

Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win the ATP World Title

Novak Djokovic put a firm stamp on his Number 1 ranking by emphatically beating Roger Federer in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The Serbian won 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 to add the season ending title to his Australian Open victory and top ranking.

Djokovic needed two hours and 14 minutes to take two sets in a match that had dramatic swings in momentum. It was the second time Djokovic has won the ATP finale, following his triumph in Shanghai four years ago.

Djokovic said

“ It’s not the first time that Roger started so well against me. I’ve experienced before his aggression, really trying to put his mark on the match”.

Roger Federer was attempting to become the first man since Andy Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl, twenty five years ago to win hat- trick of season- ending championships and his seventh overall.

The 31 year old admitted in defeat that.

“ At the end of the day that doesn’t matter you have to get over the finish line in the set and then obviously the match. He was better at that today.”

Federer has made London’s 02 arena something of a second home over the last two years and certainly wasn’t lacking in support as he is perhaps one of the greatest tennis players of all the time.

The atmosphere might not have been so cranked up at the start as it was in during his semi final against Andy Murray on Sunday, but the Federer fans were in full voice as their man reeled off the first nine points.

Djokovic appeared out of sync, fluffing a routine volley and firing long as he slipped on the court, there were ironic cheers when he finally got on the board in game three.

The winners were mainly flowing from Federer but it was a case of brilliance against resilience as Djokovic dug in and weathered the storm by extending the rallies whenever possible.

Federer netted a forehand to give back the break in game five and the contest came alive once again. Djokovic hit a brilliant cross- court forehand when reaching to his right to move 5-4 ahead, he then failed to convert the set point on the serve Federer hit back to level it.

These heavy blows took a physical the tll when Djokovic was knocked off his feet by a Federer effort which resulted in Djokovic needing attention at the changeover. The hour mark passed and the pair headed into a pulsating tie- break.

Djokovic took the initiative, but then Federer played a blinding forehand and punch the air and brought the 02 crowd to it's feet.

Djokovic wasn't affected as moments later he clinched the set with a forehand winner after a Federer error.

An eight-minute game at the start of the second set suggested there was still nothing between them, and when Djokovic succumbed on the fourth break point he smacked his racquet in anger on the blue court - another long battle loomed. 
 
Federer resumed his early dominance, and when he saw off a break point at 4-3 with an ace he looked on course to force a decider. 
 
Djokovic had recovered from even worse positions against Murray and Juan Martin del Potro in the last week, however, and Federer helped him out when serving for the set at 40-15. 

 
His forehand deserted him and two set points went begging as Djokovic, now peppering the 
 baseline with his returns, reeled off four straight points to level.
Having been on the verge of levelling the match, Federer was now hanging on for dear life. 

 
Djokovic battled through his own service game and a couple more loose shots from Federer, under pressure from the Serb's returns, offered up match point, seemingly from nowhere. 
The final point was played out much like the match, with Federer taking control only for Djokovic to come up with the answer - a spectacular backhand down the line on the stretch. 

 
The tennis calendar year is over for 2012, but 2013 promises to be another roller coaster year of exciting tennis with the Australian Open in January, the Roland Garros in March and Wimbledon in June. Is 2013 the year that Djokovic keeps his Number One ranking or will some knock him off the perch.

Novak Djokovic

Preview of The ATP World Tour Finals

During next week, the top eight men's tennis players will come face to face with each other at The London 02 for the right to win the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The players that will be competing in this years tournament is Novak Djorkovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jan Tipsarevic and finally the world No 8 Jo Wilfred Tsonga.

There is a noticeable absentee in this years competition in Rafael Nadal who has unfortunately had to pull out of the ATP World Tour due Finals to a recurrence of a injury to his left knee that has resulted in him having not played since the summer.

There are two groups of four which culminates in each tennis player playing the other three players in their group once. The top two tennis players from the group stage then go through to the semi finals and then the final

The reigning champion Roger Federer has had a mixed year since winning the ATP World Tour Final last November. He qualified for the 2012 edition on 9 July, after lifting a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title. He will almost certainly be the man to beat as he has already won the competition six times. He still has the hunger to be one of the top players in men's tennis for years to come. Watch out for him as he has the mentality and track record to get his Number One status back.

Novak Djorkovic the current No 1 and 2008 champion and second favourite has qualified for a six successive year. He is another tennis player that you have to watch out for,five years ago he was lock third best tennis player in men's tennis but a remarkable two years has resulted him rising to Number One after winning Wimbledon, Australian Open, Shanghai Masters and various other key Grand Slams. He goes into this tournament full of confidence having beaten Murray in the Masters in Shanghai in October. If he gets the better of Murray during the tournament then he could well be the man to watch.

The third favourite is Great Britain's Andy Murray. He has really come of age over the last five months. He has had rollercoaster of a summer which resulted in him losing to Roger Federer in a close fought Wimbledon Final in July and then beating him emphatically in the Olympic Mens Final to become the first British man since 1908 to win a gold medal.

He also won a silver doubles medal with Laura Robson after losing to Mirinyi -Azarenka . More importantly he won his first Grand Slam by beating Novak Djorkovic in five sets in the US Open Final. This ultimately ended Britain's 76 year wait for a male champion. This will surely be an exciting tournament for Murray he is driven to better his record in this tournament and try his hardest to end the year on a high.

David Ferrer reached the 2007 final (l. to Federer) at Shanghai on his debut at the season-ending championships. The Spaniard has qualified for the circuit finale for the third straight year and fourth time overall.

Tomas Berdych the sixth best men's tennis player has a lot to prove after a year which hasn't gone totally to plan. He has been caught in various grand slams this year and made an untimely first exit at Wimbledon. He will be hoping that he performs well enough to make the semi final which will equal his best performance in the competition since 2011.when he lost to Nadal in the semis.

The Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro has qualified for the season finale on three occasions and for the first time since 2009. He won a bronze medal at the olympics by defeating Novak Djorkovic. At Basel, he beat five-time former titlist Federer in the final of his home town tournament to lift his fourth title of the year.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the title match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2011 where he lost to Federer. The Frenchman has qualified for the season finale for the third time since his debut in 2008. He has a 4-4 record at the tournament. It will be interesting to see how her performs because on his day he can be very hard to beat.

Janko Tipsarevic served as an alternate at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2011, replacing Andy Murray for two round robin matches.The Serbian has qualified outright for the season finale for the first time. As a 2011 alternate, he has a 1-1 record at the tournament, which includes a victory over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Probably not going to get out of the group stage at it's his second tournament but who knows.

We await some mouthwatering and very emotionally charged contests between the top eight and it will be incredibly hard to denote who stands the best chance of glory. But most tennis critics and bookies will have the top three favourites of glory as Novak Djorkovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. The three favourites for glory can't take their opponents lightly as there could be some shocks.