Pietersen injury flags up question marks over England career

It’s a question which has been touted about for a while now, is Kevin Pietersen on the brink of quitting One-Day international cricket for good?

Well, the 30-year-olds troublesome hernia problem means England’s opening batsman in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 prematurely heads home.

The Surrey cricketer said he was “absolutely devastated” to leave the tournament, though the extent of Pietersen’s injury was there for all to see as he laboured in the field during the six-run win against South Africa on Sunday.


Pietersen (above) contemplates another spell on the sidelines.

As is the case, England are fortunate they have been able to call upon the mercurial batting exploits of Eoin Morgan, himself just back from injury, as his replacement.

The expected six-week injury lay-off will see Pietersen miss out on playing for the Deccan Chargers in the lucrative Indian Premier League, but England Coach Andy Flower has remained cautiously optimistic Pietersen will be fit and ready to return ahead of this summer’s home series versus Sri Lanka.

The England Cricket Boards secrecy in hiding the nature of Pietersen’s injury begs the question of whether there is more to the batsman’s demise in the sub-continent than first thought.

Before the World Cup, Pietersen had to sternly rebuff talk he was set to hang up his ODI gloves for good in a bid to prolong his Test Match career but this latest niggling injury only serves to rub salt in the wounds to a player – who in truth has been depleted of both runs and fitness in recent times.

The sheer workload of international cricket now means inevitable wear and tear for the modern cricketer, and perhaps ‘KP’ has suffered from playing too much.

Pietersen, who once topped the ODI batting rankings has had an unusually quiet few years giving the critics ammunition to suggest his England swansong is now over and that he is no longer the jewel to his countries crown.

Statistically talking though and some would disagree. It is all too easy to forget the remarkable feats the erstwhile Hampshire star chalked up left, right and centre towards the beginning of an international career – which in spells rewrote the cricketing record books.


The England batsman has not scored a ODI hundred since 2008.

But ever since he lost the prized captaincy of his country, Pietersen’s performance has dried up. When the South Africa-born player took up the reins from the outgoing Michael Vaughan in the summer of 2008, he started his tenure with aplomb – scoring a Test century in his debut match as Captain and then winning the subsequent One-Day series 4-0 against the country of his birth.

Fatigue and poor form with the bat since has seen Pietersen not score a ODI century for nearly three years, his last coming in Cuttack against India in 2008.

A succession of up and down series have followed suit, along with injuries.

Pietersen endured a serious Achilles problem in 2009 and many say he was rushed back into the first XI fold all too quickly.

The intricacies of Pietersen’s mediocre form are well documented, but his batting prominence in England’s maiden World T20 win and the majestic 227 he scored down under this winter underline his credentials.

Statistics aside, a greater analytical tool to examine Kevin Pietersen in 2011 is how opponents now do not seem overly concerned if he is playing or not. That trademark X factor style and fearless approach appears to have disappeared.

Although Pietersen’s career is nowhere near done in cricketing terms, if he ever wants to reignite the inroads he started to make into batting methodology, he needs to act now in what is a wading spotlight.

With the emergence of a strong and prosperous England team in the last two years, one of which that is more than content to do battle without Pietersen – the batsman needs to rediscover that cocky, self-confident and exceedingly positive self belief if he is to become his countries go-to-man ever again.

Whether or not jacking in the 50 over format of the game would help matters is questionable because if a fully fit and confident Pietersen rediscovers those lost gears – then he is well set to rub shoulders with the game’s elite once more.

Nonetheless with growing family commitments, millions in the bank and the fact England don’t necessarily need their one-time talisman like they once did, the bat is very much in Pietersen’s hands again for him to decide the next direction of a genuinely fascinating career.

ITN Senior Political Correspondent Chris Ship visits WINOL

Senior Political Correspondent for ITN News Chris Ship visited WINOL during our third week of production. An established and top-drawer political broadcaster in his own right, it was invaluable to hear Chris’s advice and guidance in the post bulletin de-brief, in addition to learning what he felt was crucial to have on every journalism CV; work experience.

Our October 27th Bulletin can be viewed by clicking the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/winolnews#p/u/3/bxV0qdM2ovU

Chris Ships main points:

- Headlines are the most important part of your show – ITN record headlines – showcase crime package interview with strong quotes – headlines need to be rehearsed and there needs to be adequate time for there to be a run through of everything from the galleries cue.

- Crime Package: pauses in footage, almost exactly right but let the viewer have time to see what is happening.

- Too much towing and throwing in the studio (i.e. guest coming in (could have been seated at end of desk).

- Live Two-Way: Second question cut slightly too short. The questions from the presenter needed a more natural feel. And also there was too much ceiling in shot.

View Chris’s in-depth interview where he talks about WINOL, the bulletins stories in greater depth and gives advice for WINOL’s budding broadcast journalists. Produced by Joey Lipscombe and Stuart Appleby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_irgaHWLBmM


Chris Ship (centre) with the WINOL team in our Studio.

Lee Desty: Editor BBC South Today WINOL De-Brief Week 2

BBC South Today’s Editor Lee Desty visited WINOL during our second week of production. His direct approach and attention to detail helped me too gage an important understanding of how televised news works in a local BBC environment and how they do procedures differently to us. In general the week felt chaotic and organization felt unruly. Indeed, the smooth nature of work previously produced seemed to have disappeared, however the basis for success looked as though it was ready to act as a stepping stone for more fruitful WINOL bulletins in the coming weeks.

Editorial Points post bulletin:-

Homeless Funding Story: Use of natural sound worked, but a possible case for juxtaposition libel as not all buskers strumming a guitar can be classed as homeless people. They are two separate individuals. The positioning of the interview was strange and is a simple point for correctness in an otherwise good piece of initiative for a story.

- Spending Cut Studio Chat: Julie looked good and came across very well on camera, however I thought the studio two way was slightly out of context with the previous story, and the news asserted derived from a national angle – meaning there were no Winchester related extracts really specific to the viewer.

- Crime Story: Script told the story very well, and PTC was strong if not too long. General views are limited but creativeness is needed there.
- Higher Train Fares: An issue affecting a lot of people, including a vast percentage of our viewers, but the story did not feel localised and it felt like it was missing a strong local selling point; particularly with the higher rail fares not fully coming into play as yet.

- Unison (On the Day): My Piece to camera was too long, too close and my movement on camera was distracting. I enjoyed turning around a story on the day though even if I was short for time.

- ‘And Finally’ story (departing Bishop of Winchester): Interview was good, could have done with a bit more emotion and for the Bishop to talk about his views, ex role and future. GV’s were lacklustre. Needed shots of the Bishop doing things and not additional shots of objects which did not relate to the story, but an overall good ending to the news section of the bulletin.

- Sport: WINOL Champagne award: the initiative was great, but not sold to its full selling point. The basketball interview with the team’s captain was strange (as the interviewee was holding a basket ball – would Kevin Pietersen hold a cricket bat in every interview?).

Lee Desty Analysis

- The Director of the bulletin needs to have time to go through the script before the programme airs.

- Zapper Mentality: The headline sequence needs to be recorded and hold the viewer. If it doesn’t you can have your audience switching off extremely quickly. Your best shots and images need to be used at the top of the show to maintain the audience.

- The importance for light and shade in a bulletin. Although top quality journalism always remains top quality journalism – fluffy, and finally pieces are more memorable generally.

- BBC South Today Headline Formula: Normally 4 headlines: 2 hard/2 soft and a powerful piece of actuality which draws in viewers.

- The viewer needs to buy into your story, hence you need to sell it well.
- One lasting piece of advice by Lee was if you haven’t got a great opening shot you are struggling for a story.

- Grab the viewer with the top story.

- My PTC- avoid use of the subsidiary clause – feels as though you are going to draw the PTC to a close and then you continue to explain. The average PTC length should be 10-20 seconds. Should only be longer if you are lacking in pictures for a court report.

- The reporter needs to believe the story, there needs to be a sense of conviction in telling the story – keep to 3/4 points.

- You can look down at your notes – but make it clear you are. Have the notepad for a few seconds at least in shot, deliberately show to the viewer.

- News and Sport divide big: keep sport to a minimum of three minutes as sport divides audience and people can switch off.

Find the bulletin (in two parts) on the below links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/winolnews#p/u/6/Zaz-8FcaSlg

http://www.youtube.com/user/winolnews#p/u/5/cYpespcx7uY

WINOL Week 1 De-Brief:

Fortunately I found a personal investigative piece, which would fall under the feature category more than news. The package was about two local born sisters from Eastleigh, who sadly lost their father due to an asbestos related disease a number of years ago. Diane and Lynne, subsequently set-up an awareness group to help others who found themselves in similar situations. After interviewing the two women involved, it was an extremely personal tale and one which can add to the features section of the website.

International Students ID problem: Had potential to be a very good story – with the majority of students and viewers life’s revolving around hitting the town. Foreign students difficultly to be able to get into town hotspots because their ID did not match the holographic system of British ID indeed was an issue. However, the piece needed a case study of a student who has been turned down from club entry, which it did not have. PTC – also was strange as we only saw the reporter for a split second.

Tuition Fee Story: Relevant to our audience, but again it needed a concerned student to front the piece as the report catered too much for the national angle.

Housing Plans:This one is always a topical talking point in Winchester, and although Gareth’s piece was cut to an OOV it emphasized a housing problem for the residents of Winchester, on a small scale. The point being, landlords are snapping up housing (in areas like Stanmore) and then are turning them into multi occupancy houses, therefore having an effect on the local community. GV’s were limited in the piece, and perhaps there could have been reference to the Barton Farm case – where there is a current court battle over 2000 potentially new homes being built on the outskirts of the city.

Queen Elizabeth story: The Queen was in Southampton to name the new liner ship, and although Amy was unable to film close to proceedings she captured the Queen delivering her naming speech on a big screen. Natural sound has not been kept enough in previous WINOL bulletins so it was nice to hear murmurs of the crowd, waiting in anticipation.

Sport: The packages again were all there, but one major talking point was the spelling on the graphic. Indeed, there were several errors of teams names being spelt incorrectly, something which should never of gone to air.

BJTC Piece: Originally there was talk this could lead the bulletin, which was rather ludicrous in my opinion. Even though, it is positive for the course and us students, our viewers do not want to know about our achievements – but the news – as it was news to us but not too them. The package needed a touch more creativity, especially on the PTC to link the award and WINOL more closely.

Follow the link to the bulletin itself: http://www.youtube.com/user/winolnews#p/u/17/eNXKao9E9v4

WINOL Dummy Edition

WINOL’s curtain raiser for the 2010/2011 academic year kicked off in admirable style as the combination of second and third years working together as a team started yet again for the second consecutive year. My role as Investigative Reporter for the semester suits my ambition and my interests. As I spent last year reporting, it is great for me to still have the opportunity to be able to this but with a different style. After spending the summer working hard towards my journalism goals, I know Freedom of Information holds the key to success this semester.

WINOL Bulletin Analysis:

Westminster Piece: Joey’s Tory Party Conference Piece showed desire, determination and individual skill. The Conservative gathering in Birmingham, a meeting to define a new Tory era possessed the potential for hundreds of news items, but finding that one particular one and relating it to Winchester remained the biggest problem.

Thankfully, Winchester’s MP Steve Brine obliged to offer his time for an interview, sequence shots and for Joey to take in the general character of the day, offering a local outlook on proceedings and on the much maligned coalitions impact on Winchester. Overall, it was a good package of which to start the ball rolling in the latter half of 2010 for WINOL.

St Pauls By-Election: The package itself was newsworthy because the fate of the by-election vote meant the Liberal Democrat run City Council could have lost their slender lead advantage over the Tory’s, resulting in a hung council. As it was, the Lib Dems held on, in a story I enjoyed filming in terms of sequences. It was not my best piece of work by any stretch but it allowed me to familiarize myself with reporting yet again.

Student Finance: Of course Chancellor’s George Osborne’s public spending review has sparked debate, intrigue and worry as to where the future of Great Britain’s economy lies. Indeed, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s failure not to stick to his agreement of not raising tuition fees came firmly back to bite him. Financial correspondent for WINOL Julie Cordier covered the proposed hikes in her first package. For a first news report it was very good, with effort, enthusiasm and desire all evident. The only criticism is that the topic for the story was slightly too big and its impact on Winchester needed to come across with greater aplomb.

Rape Alley Story: Bizarre. The myth of the alley overall could be true but there were no interviews or anything of note to back up the hunch. The link to the council failing to control the weather was difficult to comprehend, but crime is difficult in Winchester and I expect Andy will produce quality material in the coming weeks.

Sport: WINOL’s exclusive rights for non league footage. First of all, fantastic on Sport Editor Grant’s part for working hard and using his contacts to gather the rights, but it was not completely sold right. A clearly scripted auto-cue and a bit of clarity in what WINOL did secure would have emphasized the success. Good debuts by WINOL’s respective second year sports reporters. More focus needed on women’s football, campus sport and student related sport to increase circulation.

A defining moment was said by one of our lecturers Angus Scott in the post debrief ,where he said the people who do have seniority and clout in their respective roles, need to be listened too (i.e. news reporters need to listen to their editor). Another example was the Director in the studio, having a say on what was comfortable for him and what needed to be put right before we went live.

BBC South Today Master Class With Tom Hepworth

As an inspiring Broadcast Journalist, the opportunity to watch the expert thought process of a renound video journalist at work, Tom Hepworth, at first hand when he visited our Winchester News Online newsroom for the second consecutive year raised my motivation levels further to achieving in journalism.


Tom Hepworth reporting for BBC South Today.

Tom, a video journalist and frontline presenter at BBC South Today relayed advice to WINOL’s news team as he talked through how to construct a news package, create television friendly pictures and how to be as innovative as possible in difficult situations. For example, Tom followed a story on a new tennis gizmo device which could store used tennis balls, keeping them refreshed and ready for action again. In a limited space (a tennis court) and on his own he produced close ups, high angles and low shots of the two tennis developers playing, which cut together very well. He also conditioned a three part piece to camera (in tennis attire), by splitting what he had to say into three compartments – and then by twisting the camera onto different backgrounds and remembering where his words finished from the last point, this added to the visual. Other assets to his armoury in terms of the reporting he showed us were as follows:

- Try pull to focuses, particularly good when you have two definitive objects in the fore and background: referring to Tom’s piece on a man – who ran his small business of providing care for people (the catch was he had to walk to many of a destination). When undertaking the filming for the piece, the interviewee had to play ball so to speak to do a variety of sequence shots – which added to the story’s humour. Tom was also asked – does the BBC check the legitimacy of story goers like that one? And he uttered yes to an extent as he followed the man to make sure he actually did do the long yards of walking in his job to his clients.

- Winchester Recession Story: Tom answered a problem I’ve had before, getting potential interviewees to go camera. His advice – to be as front with them as possible, to let them know what you want and your intentions from the offing. But more than anything, to just be nice to people.

- Another slice of advice which was memorable is that when you have to film or undertake a PTC in front of people (particularly children), just relax if they keep asking you questions as they are genuinely interested in what you are doing. For instance, if school children so happen to be on a summer break, tell them to come back in an hour (when you know you will be finished) so they cannot cause wholesale disruption. Additionally, if they want you to record something of them just do it and then show them to quash their first for television there and then.

- PTC advice: When doing a PTC on your own you need to get over the fear of doing it in front of people. Position yourself where you want it to be done, twist the side screen around and hold your hand where you are going to perform it. Then you are able to focus in on your hand, leaving it ready and waiting for the reporter to jump in front of the camera and perform.

- Try and mix up your camera work with low shots and handhelds. For the handheld camerawork hold the camera into your chest to stop the movement of the shot being jerky.

The hints and tips Tom provided the WINOL team with were invaluable and for me particularly they were aspiring and very motivational. Below is a link to my allotment based story I recently produced and featured are Toms standout comments about my work:

Please watch the package first here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/StuApplebyWINOL#p/a/u/2/GPiLqXATlIM

- First two shot didn’t work over the top of the woman’s clip – it would have been better to set up the camera behind her so you couldn’t see her mouth moving but could see she was talking to you and your reaction to her work.

- Walking set-up shot – editing grammar – let the interviewee leave the picture before taking the talking head.

- Next time when you are filming a sequence – get shots of different variety – high angles- close-ups – high-up – long shot – behind the subject and a shot of the face.

Top BBC presenter Fiona Bruce visits Winchester

Last week I had the privilege to meet BBC News flagship female presenter Fiona Bruce, as the Singapore born presenter visited Winchester along with her Antique Roadshows team. Hundreds of local people flocked to the city's Cathedral before dusting down ancient antiques and quirky belongings ready for the shows leading experts to cast their eye over.

Although, myself and my fellow journalism colleagues only had the chance to chat to Fiona for a second or too [and pose for a photo], her sheer professionalism when we watched her perform a earlier sequence for the programme, in addition to a PTC in front of the googled eyed public shows she really has earned her crust as being labelled a top journalist.

It truly was inspiring to watch and it gave me that extra little bit of motivation to have a career as good as hers one day.


Myself (second from the right) with Fiona and my journalism colleagues