Pietersen claims confidence back ahead of Ashes

Posted on October 21st, 2010 in Sports Betting Blog

Kevin Pietersen is not a man whom you would expect to be brimming with confidence right now; he has seemed out of form, low in spirits, apparently out of love with cricket, and without a test century since way back in March 2009. However, the player has now claimed that his spell in South Africa has given him the opportunity to reclaim the confidence that he will need if he is to show his class in the upcoming Ashes series against an Australian side which is going to be looking to win back the urn that the players let slip in 2008.

With the Australian bowling attack being tipped to be stronger than the English one, the English batsmen such as Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen will need to avoid a top order collapse if the English team is going to stand a chance of allowing its bowlers to get used to wickets that English bowlers have rarely performed well on.

However, with the England team having looked to use a variety of techniques to boost their chances of overcoming the current Ashes betting odds that have them down has underdogs, Pietersen may have been the man to come up with the best solution to his own problems by returning to his homeland for a short while.

If this move has indeed proved successful and the player has found a way to overcome the blues he had been left facing, then the England team may well find itself ending the series with people left scratching their heads and wondering why they came into the Ashes 2010 series with such low expectations of the team, leaving egg on the faces of many experts in the process.

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Pietersen admits England are the underdogs – but believes they can still win

Whilst the England team are currently riding high in the ICB rankings (potentially overtaking the Aussies should they lose their upcoming series against India), the English Ashes team is still considered by most bookies, experts, and more than a small number of fans to be a group of players potentially on a hiding to nothing and, at the very least, massive underdogs in the Ashes betting odds for the Ashes cricket series.

Although mind games are relatively rare in cricket compared to many other sports, the majority of England fans will be hoping that Kevin Pietersen’s latest outburst (which saw him admit all too readily that England are the underdogs) is simply the start of a psychological war of words, rather than a worrying sign that England’s players are already fearing the worst ahead of a series that saw them humiliated 5-0 the last time they were on Australian soil.

However, with Pietersen also suggesting that the England team is fully prepared to put up a good fight, whilst also hinting that there is even an air of quiet confidence surrounding the team, their status as underdogs and an unusual lack of pressure from the UK press and public should see the English lads play their cricket without the burden of fear or expectation, something that could provide a significant boost to the side’s prospects out in Australia.

With Pietersen having been handed the opportunity to regain some kind of form in his native South Africa, Graeme Swann playing some wonderful cricket at the moment, and the England players always able to take full advantage of a close team spirit and togetherness, the English do have a few reasons to be hopeful in their quest to pull off what would be a shock result remembered by fans of cricket across the world for many years to come.

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