England's over-dependence on Kevin Pietersen is looking really unhealthy and the inconsistency is glaring. If the blasters at the top of the order fail, what next? The ammunition is thin on the ground and a collective headlessness sets in, writes Ian Chadband in the Telegraph. He takes the example of England's sorry effort against South Africa.

The theatre surrounding the man here was irresistible as usual. When Ravi Bopara went in the first over, it was almost a surprise to see Pietersen striding to the wicket. Striding? After hearing his own melodramatic versions recently of his injury woes, surely the mighty one would hobble out there on a Zimmer frame.

Still, as he is never slow in letting us know, he is a man who knows no fear and no pain. He’d played before with a damaged back, broken ribs, a broken hand; and, of course, many times with a broken team.