Friday 2 May 2008 10:28, UK
Ian Ward says Kevin Pietersen could be the catalyst to kick-start Hampshire's season after a poor start.
Hampshire have had a real struggle since the start of the year and have failed to win a match yet in all competitions. Their new captain, Dimi Mascarenhas has left to play in the IPL for four weeks, and to be fair it's not an ideal time for a skipper to disappear, but Nic Pothas and Jimmy Adams will deputise in one-day cricket and four-day cricket respectively. With the players they have lost, obviously the inspirational Shane Warne being the main one, James Bruce has retired and Shaun Udal retired also but then signed for Middlesex, and with Mascarenhas heading off with the team having made a poor start, everyone is looking at them to see how they get past this transitional stage. Results haven't gone their way and all of a sudden they have to dig in and stop the rot and it really doesn't help when you're captain is disappearing off to India. At the moment they are finding it hard but they have the players to get them back on track. They have a lot of talent at the Rose Bowl: Shane Bond is one of the most incisive opening bowlers that world cricket has to offer and he was in good form against Sussex in their opening county championship game. Chris Tremlett can hopefully remain fit and play a big part. They have the experience of John Crawley in the middle order, and Michael Carberry is an exciting player at the top of the order. But they just haven't put it all together yet which is what I would imagine the management would have feared through the winter as the team are now under pressure. Kevin Pietersen is scheduled to play against Gloucestershire in the FP Trophy on Sunday, which we will be covering live on Sky Sports. Since signing for Hampshire from Notts in 2005 Pietersen has only made six first-class appearances and has played just 15 one-day matches, due to his England commitments. So it's a big fillip to have him for the next couple of matches before he presumably takes his place in the England team for the first Test of the summer in a couple of weeks time. Hopefully his bravado and out-and-out genius can rub off on the rest and can kick-start their season.