One of the biggest talents and most attractive names in world cricket (they're not always the same thing) is rather belatedly set to join The Biggest Party In Sport. After months of anticipation, the second-year Limacol Caribbean Premier League is ready to welcome its number one Draft choice to the competition. After over five weeks in action, the Saint Lucia Zouks will at last be joined by poster-boy Kevin Peter Pietersen.
Pietersen, the 34-year-old former England captain, talismanic batsman and genuine T20 rock star, confirmed via Twitter that he will be meeting up with the Zouks this week in St Kitts-Nevis. He should be in the lineup when the bottom team in this year's competition goes up against inaugural champions the Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday from midday in Basseterre. The problem is, it's almost certainly way too little, far too late.
On Saturday, Pietersen hit 29 off 27 balls for Surrey against Worcestershire in their Natwest T20 Blast quarterfinal win, so his form is not a big issue. But he is joining a woeful team, which lost their first six games in a row. It's also a team that lost its overseas franchise player, Brad Hodge, to injury - and this before the season even got underway.
Hodge was never directly replaced, and the bottom-most team from 2013 has struggled with its bowling, especially with Shane Shillingford having been limited following his international ban. Pietersen has not bowled much over the past year, but he was only ever an occasional bowler, not what the Zouks need most.
As it stands, Darren Sammy's Zouks should have two games with Pietersen in St Kitts-Nevis. At the time of writing, they are getting set to make a bid for their first vitory of the season, their first-ever home win and a chance to climb off the bottom of the table, going up against Antigua's Hawksbills. Even were they to win their next three, though, it's unlikely they will be in the playoffs. Pietersen should be back in England in plenty of time to get in a few rounds of golf with Piers Morgan ahead of the NatWest T20 Blast final at Edgbaston on Saturday 23 August.
It's not what we were promised when the Draft was announced back in May. Nor, certainly, what was expected when the Zouks made Pietersen the top pick, and then grabbed last year's top pick - opening batsman, Johnson Charles - to join former Sammy and Hodge as the core of this year's team. "England’s all-time leading run scorer in international cricket," we were reminded. "A star attraction," proclaimed the CPL marketers, and most justifiably so.
But the Englishman opted to honour his Surrey contract over the allure of this new(ish) league, the "secondment agreement" to which the CPL referred either never materializing or never being enforced. Perhaps he was oblivious that his name and face were being plastered over all the marketing materials, billboards, posters, fliers... heck, any printable surface would do! Perhaps he still held out hope of an England recall. "Pietersen will light up the tournament," they said, and well he might, but if he does, it will be but very briefly.
In May, Kevin Pietersen said: "I’m delighted to be involved in this year’s Limacol CPL. As soon as I was approached, I knew it was something I wanted to take part in. I have fantastic memories of playing T20 cricket in the Caribbean... so I can’t wait to play in front of the magnificent Caribbean fans who create a truly unique and thrilling atmosphere." Apparently, wait he could, and he has kept fans in the region waiting, too.
Damien O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer of the CPL, said: "Kevin’s inclusion in the Draft is a real statement of intent about how we want to grow the competition year on year, and demonstrates just how far we have come in a short period of time." His prolonged absence, then, must be a statement as well. Unfortunately, it's a statement that the Caribbean Premier League, as far as it has indeed come, as many new television contracts as it has inked, and as many exciting games as it has had this term, still has plenty of room to grow.
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