Flintoff urges KP not to switch style

5 August 2008

Kevin Pietersen will bring his unique sense of style to the position of England captain

Andrew Flintoff has urged Kevin Pietersen not to alter the way he bats after becoming England’s new captain.

Pietersen is the leading batsman in the side with an average in excess of 50 in Test and one-day cricket and has become renowned for his exciting approach which included the innovative ‘switch hit’ shot earlier this summer.

Flintoff believes it would be a mistake if Pietersen decides to curb his style after taking over from Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood and uniting the roles.

The Lancashire all-rounder said: “Kevin has got to play the way he wants to play. Look at his stats. He is better than anyone (in the side) so why would you change? Let him go and do his thing.

“He is a fine player. He has got confidence by the bucketload and he will probably take that into his captaincy. The one thing we don’t want is for him to change.

“He goes out to bat and will bat left-handed, switch shots and all those things. But he doesn’t just think about it on the spot. You watch him practice in the nets.

“For the 2006 Ashes series in Australia he worked so hard at dealing with the short ball. He works so hard on his fitness as well. Quite a lot of thought goes into the way he plays."

Flintoff believes Pietersen will have the confidence and self-belief to think he can replace Vaughan, who won 26 of his 51 Tests as captain.

He added: “I enjoyed playing under Michael. He got the best out of his team. He got the best out of me. When he took over from Nasser Hussain, there was a definite mood shift even in the week he took over.

“Michael is relaxed and wanted people to express themselves and have fun playing and I think we did that for a long time. It is sad that he has gone.

“It is massive boots to fill but I am sure Kevin will be confident he can. He is very single-minded and talented. I am sure he will be relishing it now.

“I don’t think he will be thinking of the boots he’s got to fill. He will have a plan of what he has to do and how he wants to go about it.”