Pietersen's homecoming
It's easy to forget that England won the Ashes without Kevin Pietersen for the final three Tests
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
It's easy to forget that England won the Ashes without Kevin Pietersen for the final three Tests. But England's premier batsman is getting closer to his return after a tough recovery from Achilles surgery and is on track to face South Africa, the country of his birth, in the Test series. When he announced himself with three centuries during the 2004-05 ODI series he faced a harsh reaction from the home crowd and he admits it wasn't the most pleasant experience in a wide-ranging interview with Brian Viner in the Independent.
Does he anticipate a hostile reception when, wherever it might be, he strides out for the first time? After all, in 2005 he was abused loudly and mercilessly. He smiles. "Well, Strauss is South African, [Matt] Prior is South African, so is Jonathan Trott, so it won't just be me." But he is the man those Afrikaaners in particular love to hate, isn't he? "Yeah, but I take that as a compliment, the same as Ricky Ponting does when he comes here. I enjoy it, actually. But you're right, in 2005 it was extremely abusive, and my mum and dad were very upset. Especially my mum. That doesn't bring fond memories, even though I scored three hundreds and was man of the series. But I don't expect it to be as bad this time. I think people in South Africa respect me now for what I've done."
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo