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Trust, according to writer and humorist Finley Peter Dunne, is not something set in stone. Rather, it’s a sense of reliance that is in flux and wholly dependent on context.
Dunne captured this notion succinctly, perhaps cynically, when he said: “Trust everybody, but cut the cards [yourself].”
Over the past week, we’ve witnessed issues of trust come to the fore as two of England’s best South African cricketers locked horns in what seemed more like an episode of Footballers’ Wives than the “manly” corridors of cricket.
Former England test captain Andrew Strauss, who now holds the position of director of cricket for the England and Wales cricket board and is responsible for the dramatic affair of squad selection ahead of the Ashes, was quoted in the British press as saying: “There is a massive trust issue between me and Kevin [Pietersen]… It is our opinion [that] he cannot feature in our short-term plans. Long term, who knows?”
Strauss’ statement on Tuesday apparently emerged from a meeting he had with Pietersen the day before.
Unfortunately for Strauss, it came on the back of Pietersen having scored an unbeaten triple century for Surrey in the County Championship. That innings might have stacked the cards in KP’s favour for England selection, but it’s just too bad for him that Strauss is dealing them.
As it turned out, during that same meeting, while rejecting KP’s aspirations of playing for England, Strauss offered him an advisory role to boost the England ODI team, something KP initially rejected but then seemingly about-faced on.
He tweeted late on Wednesday: “I’ve given it a lot of thought overnight. I’m applying for the coaching job! #StraussLogic .”
It seems Pietersen is fully aware that trust is more than just a brand of condoms, it’s a “two-way” thing, he said in the week. Smart guy, that KP.
But in all the confusion, I’d go with the #StraussLogic, which presents a kind of win-win situation: tapping the skills of a talented yet volatile and ageing cricketer in an advisory role while keeping him fairly isolated from the team’s inner workings.
Besides, I’d also find it difficult to trust a man with so many tribal tattoos playing in my team.
Would you invite Mike Tyson and his tribal face tatt over for a casual dinner party? I think not.
Back home, trust is a commodity not in short supply when it comes to the Proteas.
Political subtext aside, we can count on AB to be flawless in the field, Hashim to be brilliant with the bat and Dale Steyn to be sort of mostly better than most with the ball (unless it’s a World Cup semifinal, of course).
We can count on the test side – whose lead at the top of the test rankings was extended this week courtesy of some mystifying ICC calculations – to wear down their opponents, as well as the one-day side to require the Heimlich manoeuvre.
Whether KP wrangles his way into the England squad for the 2015/16 summer test series against South Africa remains to be seen. Although the #StraussLogic is prudent, as a cricket fan I certainly hope Pietersen (34) cracks the nod so the top test side has some competition. It might be our last chance to heckle him as he walks off the field fat-lipped.
@Longbottom_69 is an armchair cricket critic. He’d never invite KP over for dinner either
