KP drags us into dark vestiges of the English game

terrific.

Following that England tour to Australia, when Trott and Finn went home and Swann retired during the tour and the Poms were slaughtered on the field, it was clear something disastrous was happening.

Pietersen takes us inside the tour and also inside English cricket. It is not a pretty scenario. Many do not come out well and, for me, some heroes are heroes no more.

Yes, KP is angry and bitter, but there is also a level of self-analysis and realism that has been missing from him before. He admits his faults – and they are many – but there is also a burning desire to set the record straight, even if, as has happened, some friendships were strained and even destroyed.

This is a book for grown-ups, as KP has now grown up. Language is coarse at times but not gratuitous as, clearly, he had a lot to swear about.

You know that in certain things – as with his relationship with Andrew Strauss – there is another side to the story, but you know that Kevin is giving it to you, warts and all, as he honestly saw things at the time.

His views on affirmative action and quotas in South African cricket are refreshing and critical of his former stance. He is tough on himself as well as on others.

The insanity of cricketing commitment at the top level comes through. The ludicrous situation that exists where the top form of the game is being undermined by the lucrative hit-and-giggle form is revealing. You see how a juggling act has to be performed and how New Zealand has got it right.

Mind you, KP’s insights into the IPL and the camaraderie there was also a surprise and I don’t think it was just mercenary justification. Well, maybe just a bit.

This is a book every young crick- eter should read and also everyone who is interested in the sport.

The importance of managing different personalities without harming the team is perhaps the biggest lesson. The individual nature of cricket within a team sport is well known, but the difference between batters and bowlers I found fascinating. I had never considered that and how it led to English cliques is quite scary.

There are lessons for business in the book about handling talent, especially precocious talent.

At the end, there is a brief acknowledgements section in which people who influenced the book are thanked. In it, KP makes one reference to David Walsh “for helping him to say what needed to be said”. David is the brave and talented Irish journalist who exposed Lance Armstrong’s drug abuse and who stayed consistent despite the avalanche of abuse and criticism that came his way. Walsh reveres excellence and honesty in sport and in life. That led to the end of his working relationship with superstar jockey Kieren Fallon, but that is another story. His involvement in this book gives it a stamp of quality and authority.

Most sporting books these days are ho-hum. This is way above that