Alec Swann: KP shot criticism is ludicrous
When Kevin Pietersen decided to turn himself around to try and hit sixes batting left handed, he probably had little idea of the debate that his actions would spark.
What was an audacious piece of improvisation has subsequently turned out to be the equivalent of hitting a bees' nest with a stick.
Seemingly every commentator and writer has voiced an opinion on the subject with even the game's law makers, the MCC, getting in on the act.
With the coverage of sport so wide-ranging nowadays, the smallest incident can assume epidemic proportions and this is another example.
In fact, the reaction has been ludicrous in its sheer volume.
Talk of changing the sport's rules, of it being unfair to bowlers and the fielding side and of far-fetched scenarios where batsman take stance the wrong way round purely to bend the laws are all a bit premature.
If switch-hitting become a widespread trend, then maybe something will have to be done.
But until then the game is just fine as it is.
With all the excitement over Pietersen's antics, it has been forgotten that the reverse sweep has been around the game for over two decades.
Ignore the technicalities of swapping the hands or the feet around, reverse sweeping is effectively batting left handed and nobody has demanded an alteration to the game's rules because of it.
Batsman have swapped their feet around in the past, as have they swapped their hands, but Pietersen's all in one shot has been the straw to break the camel's back.
The fact of the matter is that it is such a high-risk strategy it is hardly likely to spread like wildfire.
If batsmen can do it they probably will, but if they can't they won't.
Sport occasionally needs innovation to keep it progressing and Pietersen's brace of left handed sixes at Chester-le-Street are an example of that.
By all means change the rules if something is amiss but don't alter them purely because someone can do something out of the ordinary.
Ageing France pay the price
Too many sportsmen, women and teams go on past their sell by date.
There isn't a set date regarding when a team or individual has to call it a day, but it is often a sad sight to see once-great performers reduced to also rans.
The performance of the French team at the current European Championships is a prime example.
The World champions of a decade ago and World Cup finalists of two years ago have looked like a pale shadow – in fact, they haven't looked that good – of their previous incarnations, and their elimination from the tournament has done them a big favour.
World-class footballers being given a run around can often be entertaining.
The French being taken apart was embarrassingly painful.
Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren were often criticised for putting their faith in England's so-called biggest names and shoe-horning them into a formation whether they fitted or not, and Raymond Domenech is guilty of the same charge.
Too many of the French are surviving on their past exploits when their efforts on the pitch suggest they should call it a day to keep their hard-earned reputations intact.
They aren't the first, and they certainly won't be the last, but the French have found that top level sport takes very few prisoners, and that hanging the boots up is sometimes better than making poor use of them.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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