Pakistan v England / Frank Gregan / 07 February 2012 /

Kevin Pietersen has his own nemesis, and everyone knows it's left-arm spin. Except KP himself refuses to admit it publicly says Frank Gregan. And that could be England's downfall ahead of the ODI series against Pakistan.

Kevin Pietersen just about has it all. Charisma, the ego, bags of talent - he even has his very own nemesis. KP likes the look of a left arm spinner about as much as Ricky Ponting likes substitute fielders.

But worryingly, KP has seemed to go for the ostrich approach, burying his head in the sand and pretending that he doesn't have a problem.

He's in denial but sometime soon reality has to kick in, he needs to seek help in order to deal with the issue. That can take the form of informed coaching or a visit to one of those people that wear white coats and have offices furnished with comfy sofas. Whatever it takes, because the problem needs addressing.

It reminds me of tale back in the day when I was part of a team given the impossible task of selling an anti-tank missile to the American Army. The missile in question couldn't destroy explosive reactive armour, something that every enemy tank was fitted with. Not exactly what was needed despite its ability to do loads of other things on the battlefield. The same applies to KP, it's no good having everything else in the locker if all the opposing skipper has to do is throw the ball to a left handed spinner in order to get England's so called best batsman back in the pavilion.

The problem seems to have gone on for ages and every village cricketer in England stands at the bar and offers sage advice on how the problem can be solved. The consensus is that he's all bottom hand against the lefties which means that he ends up having to play to the leg side more often than not which leads to all kind of possible dismissals.

He reportedly sought informal advice from Rahul Dravid and the brilliant Indian told him to play a more in-to-out line, get his body position leg side of the ball and hit the ball into the off side. It worked for a while, particularly against Bangladesh but in hindsight it looks like it was the relatively poor quality of the bowling that led to the change in fortunes rather than KP's new technique.

There's no doubt that it has become a mental issue. Because of his high profile and celebrity lifestyle people are quick to point the finger at outside issues as being the cause for the decline in his form. That's a bit unfair, if you have a weakness in the international cricket arena you can be a celibate, non-drinking, non-smoking stay at home monk, it wouldn't help you one little bit once word gets around the circuit that there's a soft underbelly just waiting to be attacked.

The first thing he needs to do is to admit it. A bit like Alcoholics Anonymous, he needs to stand up at a team meeting and say "My name's Kevin Pietersen and I'm rubbish against left arm spin!" The coaching staff can start afresh with his technique against slow lefties, break it down and build it again.

It can't happen soon enough. England have been humbled in the Test series and now head into the one day series against Pakistan with their confidence rock bottom. The market quite rightly has Pakistan as favourites at [2.4] with England at [3.8] and a drawn series at [3.1].

Warts and all, Kevin Pietersen is still a highly rated batsman. He's just completed a move to the Delhi Daredevils for this year's IPL and looks set to increase his personal fortune. Just think how much he'll be worth when he masters left hand spin.

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