Captain KP

And so it came to pass that a talented but slightly egotistical South African-born batsman was made England captain. It may only be for the four matches of Paul Collingwood's suspension, but perhaps this will be regarded as the dawn of a new era. I wonder what sort of captain KP will make.

Pietersen joins Allan Lamb, Andrew Strauss and Tony Greig as an England captain who first drew breath on the African continent, although he shares more in common with Greig than the more modest former two.

"I'm humbled to have been handed the England captaincy," Pietersen said, which is surely a first for him. He didn't even mention how much extra money he could earn from the IPL and sponsors with this extra title.

I'm covering the final ODI against New Zealand from Lord's on Saturday and there will be a press conference with Captain KP tomorrow. Anyone have any questions they want me to put to him?

Incidentally, quite a lot of England captains - and some of the finest - were not born in England. Peter McGuinness calls them "Schminglishmen" (which is odd given his high regard for that famous Brummie, Andrew Symonds).

Ted Dexter was an Italian by birth, Freddie Brown was Peruvian, Plum Warner was from Trinidad, Douglas Jardine, Colin Cowdrey and Nasser Hussain were Indians (some more obviously than others) and Donald Carr, captain in 1951-2, was a German. We even, in the imposing shape of Gubby Allen, had an Australian captaining the side.

Comments

[Pritam Sinha]

I wonder how the article compares with the recent muted incidents of goal scoring by the adopted country's scorers against the countries of their birth/upbringing in the ongoing Euro 2008. Looking forward to see England defeat SA and captain's reactions to that, muted or boisterous? Should England win, that is.

[Ann]

So the child of English RAF parents born when the parents were stationed in Hong Kong is now Chinese? How's the weather on your planet, Patrick? ;-)

[Zane Mac]

Im a Kiwi living in Aus watching 5th ODI 25 overs in.
K.P. is brilliant. Warne could've been best Aussie Capt Ever. England, Dont make the same mistake. K.P. attacks like any warrior would. You wont have many Drawn Tests. Give him the Job.

[Patrick Kidd]

Carr was born in Wiesbaden, which makes him German enough for me. Furthermore he was fond of sausages, potato salad and brass instruments. Probably.

[Ann]

Donald Bryce Carr was not a 'German', and he captained England only once, in 1952.

[Som]

I think on-field umpires should do well to check KP and Graeme Smith's palms before they go out to shake hand.

[Andrew Nixon]

There's also been a Scot (Mike Denness) and two Irishmen (Tim O'Brien and Frederick Fane) who have captained England, though those were in the days before Irish and Scottish players had to fulfil residential qualifications.