KP promotes Shah to three

Middlesex man wasted at seven, says new skipper

Last updated: 19th August 2008  

KP promotes Shah to three

Shah: Promoted

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England captain Kevin Pietersen says Owais Shah will bat at number three in the one-day series against South Africa.

The Middlesex batsman will get his first chance to shine in Wednesday's Twenty20 international at Chester-le-Street after poor weather denied him his opportunity in Monday's limited overs game against Scotland.

England were forced to give up their chase for 159 for victory after just 2.3 overs, meaning Shah had to remain padded up in the pavilion.

However, Pietersen is adamant Shah was wasted batting lower down the order.

"Owais is going to bat at number three for the simple fact that I think he was wasted at number seven," explained Pietersen.

"He's a high-scoring, quick-scoring cricket player who plays cricket shots to get boundaries and I think down the order he was wasted.

Confidence

"When he has played for us, he's always done really well. He got a one-day hundred against India last year and has got runs this year and I am going to give him the confidence to bat at number three with myself at number four.

"I haven't thought about the Twenty20 side yet but there's definitely a strong case for Owais getting a good opportunity to bat and play long innings for England."

In addition to establishing Shah in a new position, Pietersen also pushed the recalled Matt Prior to the top of the order and watched Andrew Flintoff make an impressive one-day international return with three for 21 as Scotland were restricted to 156-9 in a match eventually reduced to 44 overs a side.

"It was definitely useful because we got a side out there to run around in the field and to see the options available to me, certainly from the bowling front, was great," enthused Pietersen.

"It was good to have a side out with seven of the players getting a bowl and it showed we have a lot of strength and depth.

"It's key now to identify players and roles in the team. I've identified how I want to play and it's a case of getting the confidence in the players to do what they need to do and that's what I'm prepared to do.

"I want to give the guys a good run at it and concentrate on a specific role so when something happens and you need to change, at least I've identified the roles the players need to play and they can just slot in and slot out, it's not a case of doing one thing on one day and another thing on another day."

Disappointing

Former England and Yorkshire all-rounder Gavin Hamilton, who played one Test against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1999, top-scored for the Scots with 60 off 119 balls, including four fours and three sixes, before becoming the first of Flintoff's three victims.

"The England game is as big as it gets, it's just a sad and disappointing end to what potentially could have been a semi-decent game," said Hamilton.

"As soon as the fixture came out there was a major buzz around the team. It's a game everyone wanted to play in, it was an incentive for everyone to do well during the summer.

"England versus Scotland speaks for itself. We're not saying by any stretch of the imagination we were going to win but potentially something could have happened."

Meanwhile, Pietersen says the ECB has listened to the players' concerns over the forthcoming Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

"The board is going to make a decision tomorrow," he said. "We were fortunate to have a few members of the board last night and the board knows exactly the stance of the players.

"It's a big decision for the board to make and the players have said whatever they needed to say. I'm going to keep what the players think in the dressing room and the board will make a decision tomorrow."

Asked whether he though the ECB would take the players' views into account, Pietersen added: "We'll just have to wait and see but I'm sure everything is going to work out."