More than just the Ashes

Kevin Pietersen: Crossing the Boundary by Kevin Pietersen (Ebury Press) £18.99

Showbiz, stardom, sixes - they are all here. A little over a year ago Kevin Pietersen etched his name into English cricket history with his Ashes-sealing 158 at The Oval. It was inevitable the book would follow and the only surprise is that it has taken him a year to join the likes of Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff on the shelves.

There wouldn't be a book if it wasn't for the events of last year but it isn't just about his Ashes - although he could surely have managed it - and that is a saving grace. There are only so many times you can read Test accounts from the eyes of the players. All the 'togetherness', 'bonding' and 'mateship' can become too much.

In the past year Pietersen has talked so much about the Ashes that there isn't an awful lot of new information he adds about the dramatic events of Edgbaston, Old Trafford and the rest. There are some nice touches, such as when he acted as Geoff Boycott's taxi driver in Edgbaston and admitted: "Boy, I was willing that journey to come to an end..." but there is a forced feeling with some of added statistics. Much of the book does sound like Pietersen - brash, bold, and cocky - but a line such as "In fact, the only other England side to go unchanged throughout a whole Ashes series was Arthur Shrewsbury's side in 1884-85..." is probably not one of his most common chat-up lines.

The whole Pietersen story is about risk taking. Nowadays it is all about risks with the bat - thumping Brett Lee baseball-style down the ground, or reverse-sweeping Muttiah Muralitharan for six - but his England career may never have happened if he hadn't taken the risk of leaving South Africa. The tales of his early life, from schools cricket to provincial cricket, are eye-opening and make you wonder how South Africa can afford to lose a talent such as Pietersen; he won't be the last.

Sections of this book have already made the news, especially his less-than complementary remarks about Graeme Smith and Pietersen certainly doesn't hold back. He has plenty to say about his acrimonious departure from Nottinghamshire and his decision to play on despite losing respect for the captain, Jason Gallian, and coach, Mick Newell. It is another example of Pietersen's single-minded determination to get where he knew he belonged.

Each chapter is finished by someone writing about Pietersen, from Stuart MacGill to Ashley Giles and even a brief offering from Duncan Fletcher. Some are depressingly matey (Ian Botham) but others seem slightly odd (Shahid Afridi on his Faisalabad pitch twirl). They are overdone - a few dotted throughout the book would have been fine, and basically all confirm how wonderful he is - even Boycott doesn't go beyond a veiled criticism.

Whereas the Ashes, and to a lesser extent the tours of India and Pakistan, were about 'Team England', the cricketing focus turns back to Pietersen himself for the start of the 2006 season. Slightly unfortunately the final series in the book is the draw against Sri Lanka and he is left to consider his own efforts rather than England's failure to nail the opposition.

For a person with such a macho image, Pietersen opens up his tender side when talking about Jessica Taylor - his popstar fiancée, who is only marginally higher up the ladder of celebrity anonymity - and much of the final chapter is devoted to how she has 'completed' him.

Whatever Pietersen does will appeal to the general public and there is a decent blend of lifestyle and cricket within the pages to keep a wide audience happy, although if you're looking for humility that isn't part of the KP package. For those who can't get enough of him he signs off with 'the best is yet to come'. That'll be for the second book, then the third, then the film deal.