Kevin Pietersen's ego is the source of his brilliance but it is also his biggest weakness He was not abashed in the slightest. He did not fear failure. He was game. He was up for it - even though he was fielding at mid-off and the ball was hit over mid-on. Simon Jones was standing at mid-on, rather stiff after a spell of pace bowling, as I recall. Pietersen, desperate to attract attention, was soon accelerating past Jones after giving him several yards start. You can guess the sequel. Pietersen raced, dived and made the catch inches from the turf. He celebrated flamboyantly. It was a very brilliant catch and a completely inconsequential wicket, as Zimbabwe were losing by a mile... Now he is on the outside again, out of the 50-over and 20-over England teams, which is a waste because he can assault spinners like no other righthanded opener in the land. We are told that there is no "i" in team, but they are plenty in "individual brilliance," which is what Pietersen has more of than any other England batsman of the present. And the shorter the game, the more likely it can be swayed by a burst of brilliance. The problem is that such a driven personality, such an ego, cannot stand back and see other points of view. There is no malice in Pietersen, no malice at all, but he can't see his effect on others. And destabilising the England team in the week before a Test series with the world championship at stake is pretty unforgivable. South Africa have been destablised, accidentally, by the injuries to Mark Boucher and Marchant de Lange. But Pietersen, unnecessarily, has dragged that pre-match score-line back to 2-1. Talking to him last week in Guildford, I wasn't sure exactly what he wanted out of cricket. Maybe, so many are the demands on him, he does not know himself exactly what he wants. Except to be wanted.