Michael Vaughan believes Kevin Pietersen’s appointment to England’s white-ball coaching staff is a gamble worth taking.
A dozen years on from being effectively sacked after an extraordinary bust-up with England’s management, Pietersen begins a role as specialist mentor with the one-day international and T20 teams.
Pietersen is renowned for being a straight shooter and even took the current England limited-overs set-up to task in January last year, accusing them of inadequate preparation during a tour of India.
open image in galleryWhile Vaughan backed Pietersen’s pedigree and enthusiasm, the 2005 Ashes-winning captain admitted his former England team-mate’s lack of coaching experience presents a step into the unknown.
“I like it, it’s quirky. It’s a risk, it has to be a risk because you’re not too sure what you’re going to get because Kev’s not done a great deal of coaching,” Vaughan said.
“But his knowledge of batting, his knowledge of winning, his knowledge of playing at the right intensity at the right moments, there’s no-one been better in my time playing for England.
“I’m happy he’s back in English cricket because (in) 2014, I always felt that Kev was dealt an iffy hand.
“Kev brings a lot of things on himself but there are many others who have done equally silly things and have been allowed back into English cricket.”
open image in galleryPietersen has mentored for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League – although he made headlines for taking a holiday to the Maldives midway through the 2025 tournament.
He has mainly been in broadcasting roles since retiring from playing in 2018, but is in situ on Sunday at the Utilita Bowl ahead of England’s T20 series against Sri Lanka, starting on Tuesday.
His involvement will culminate in next year’s ODI World Cup, much of which will be held in his native South Africa, but Vaughan argued Pietersen might have been better suited to a role with the Test team.
“I’ve seen him at Delhi doing a few coaching gigs – I believe he hasn’t got two weeks in the Maldives in his contract, which is good, I believe he has to stay and coach,” Vaughan chuckled.
“I was actually surprised they’ve brought him into the white-ball set-up. I thought the Test team would have approached him. The white-ball team over the last year have been doing quite well.
open image in gallery“But I would think that the batters in the white-ball team who play Test cricket, he’ll be having an influence on them.
“Winning will be the key. They’ve got to start winning trophies, to justify all these decisions and, let’s be honest, a huge amount of money being spent. England have to start winning trophies.”
Vaughan was speaking in the week that the inaugural winners of the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup were crowned after the boys’ and girls’ finals were held at Lord’s.
Application are open for next year’s competition of the national hardball cricket competition for state schools, with an estimated 15,744 students and 1,100 teams taking part in the 2025 edition.
“This will go from strength to strength,” Vaughan added. “I’m hoping next year that we’ll have more than 2,000 teams enter, that’s the goal.”
:: Michael Vaughan is promoting the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup. Thousands of teams sign up for the chance to play at Lord’s as stars encourage greater access to cricket in state schools. Find out more at https://www.lords.org/mcc/barclays-knight-stokes-cup and follow @_mccfoundation on Instagram