"I've got a very thick skin" : Kevin Pietersen [Audio Added]

[pakcricketfan]

England captain Alastair Cook and Man of the Match Kevin Pietersen spoke to the media at the DSC shortly after England's emphatic 9-wicket victory over Pakistan in the third ODI.

Kevin Pietersen: "It's nice to get a hundred. It's been two and a half years - it's a long time ago. Three nil up as well, so brilliant result for the lads."

"I said yesterday that only cricketer would understand that when I'm in the nets and when I'm actually in the middle, I don't feel as though I don't know where my next run is coming from. I know that I'm playing well. I know that I'm in a good nick and I was really calm. I've had no issues. I've just got myself out to some bad decision - I've got my leg across a couple. Luckily today, I didn't. It worked today."

"I've moved my feet in the other games as well. It's just that I didn't bat for as long."

"[Getting a] hundred is a hard work in one day cricket. There's a reason why not everybody just keeps getting hundreds. In Test match cricket, you can bat at a pace and you can bat for two sessions or three sessions. But one day hundreds are very hard to get and when you get them, you enjoy."

"In order to be successful in one day cricket, you can't afford to lose early wickets. Cook and I are two decent Test batsmen with pretty good techniques. He has improved his game ridiculously and fair play to the bloke - he's turning himself into a very, very fine one day cricketer. His technique, we know in Test match cricket is sensational and he's doing it in one day cricket as well. So the partnership is good."

"I don't think I have to prove points. I just want to enjoy my cricket."

"I understand criticism. If I'm not playing well, criticise me. I don't mind. Like I said, I've got a very thick skin. I don't have to prove any points. I just want to enjoy myself - enjoy my cricket. I want us to win."

"I said in a press conference eighteen months ago when we won that World Twenty20 and we went to Australia and won the Ashes - to win for England is the most important. I don't need to prove any more points."

"England teams - when they come to the sub-continent, we don't generally win in one day cricket. We got hammered in India. Sub-continental tours are not very easy for us. For us to be three nil up in a four-match series is amazing. The boys are so happy in the dressing room. The management are happy. It's a good place to be."

"He [Cook] is a lot better than me at getting hundreds in one day cricket at the moment. So I certainly wasn't going to race into it."

"This Pakistan team is a fantastic cricket team - very experienced."
"But I think our bowlers are phenomenal. Steven Finn - brilliant, Broad - brilliant, Anderson, Swann, Patel - the guys are bowling fantastically well. When you've got a bowling unit like that, the batters only have to do a half decent job."


Alastair Cook: "He [Kevin Pietersen] does take the pressure off me generally because we know he will score - he has a career strike rate over 85 - so he will always score runs quickly."

"When you lose three Tests matches in a row, its tough."

"But I think the lads have shown tremendous character in picking themselves up, confronting the challenge and delivering out there in the middle. I think 1 to 11 out there in these three games have all played a crucial part at some stage. So it's a very satisfying victory for us."

"It was a terribly sad day for Essex Cricket Club. Obviously, personally knowing the guys involved makes it tough. But as a sportsman and as a player, we have a duty to play sport in the right spirit."

"It was an incredibly sad day for cricket and especially Essex."

"I don't know all the in sand outs because when you have a One Day International the next day, you're fully focussed on that."

"I'm an Essex boy through and through and I love playing for Essex. To hear what's going on makes it really sad."

"To score three [hundreds] in a week would have been fantastic. But it wasn't mean to be. Of course I'd love a hundred, but to set up a win was even more important."

"In England, with the two new balls in those conditions, it will help us. But it's the same for both sides. It doesn't mean we're going to win lots of cricket matches because of the rule changes but we certainly enjoy those two new balls."

[Hamxa89]

says hello!

When did he last hit an ODI century? Maybe that'll tell us how "thick skinned" he is