CARDIFF // The weather may have denied England a whitewash over South Africa in the NatWest series, but Kevin Pietersen's mood remained positive as he looked to the future in his new role as captain. Since becoming the England skipper last month he has overseen a Test victory and then a 4-0 series win over the Proteas, which could have been five had rain not washed out the fifth game in Cardiff on Wednesday with only three overs being played.
Pietersen admitted he was delighted with how his first month in the position had gone, saying: "I can't fault anyone for anything. I can't ask for anything more as a captain." But with the Stanford Super Series in Antigua coming up in November, as well as a tour of India in December, ahead of next summer's Ashes series with Australia, Pietersen knows more will be needed from his players. "All the guys are just hungry for success," he said. "There are a lot of players who know they have settled for a comfort zone in certain areas - but I don't live with any comfort zones.
"I do not settle for mediocrity. I want guys to perform, to chuck their talent around and to be the best people they can possibly be - there is no point living if you don't want to be the best person you can possibly be." He added: "I know there are going to be hard and testing times - especially the trip to India. "I also have a philosophy of really enjoying the good times - because when the bad times come along you long for those good times.
"You make sure you enjoy the days like today and this series because it's going to be tough in India." The South African coach Mickey Arthur is backing Pietersen to shine as captain. Arthur said of the South Africa-born batsman: "Pietersen has got results and he seems to have the whole dressing-room behind him. "He's brought in a bit of an aggressive style - which has been fantastic. You have to say he has made an impact."
* PA Sport Pietersen's England is a team Arthur admires - particularly the pace and potency of change bowlers Flintoff and Steve Harmison. "With their key players back fit - Flintoff, that multi-skilled player back - they seem to have a 'brand' that is working for them," he said. "The one thing we did really well when we were at our peak was the ability to take wickets after the powerplay. They certainly have that ability now, with Flintoff and Harmison.
"That is a huge bonus, because the game gets away from you in the middle overs if you don't have the ability to take wickets. "They certainly have one of the best one-day bowling attacks around in the world." Central to that, of course, is Flintoff - and it was an understated post-match delivery from him which provided the last word on a day when the weather gave this newest of venues and its groundstaff headaches aplenty, to little avail.
Cardiff will stage the first Ashes Test next summer and, to many minds, was on trial today to see how it will cope on the big stage. Manchester, Lancastrian Flintoff's home ground, was one of those which lost out two years ago when the SWALEC was granted not just any Ashes Test but the all-important first of the series. Asked for his impressions of Cardiff, Flintoff was pithy - and pointed. "It was damp. It was better than last time I came. It's not Old Trafford - but it's all right," he said.
