June 29, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1429

LONDON, June 28: Kevin Pietersen has said he will have no qualms about captaining England against South Africa, the land of his birth.

“That would be great,” said Pietersen, who led England for the first time in Saturday’s fifth and final one-dayer against New Zealand at Lord’s.And the Hampshire batsman, who on Friday celebrated his 28th birthday, could get his wish granted as soon as August.

Pietersen only got the job of leading England’s one-day side after a slow over-rate at The Oval on Wednesday during New Zealand’s dramatic one-wicket win saw regular skipper Paul Collingwood banned for four games for twice being in charge of a team that had fallen behind the clock in the past 12 months.

Collingwood will still be banned when England play South Africa in the lone Twenty20 International on August 20 at the Riverside and the first ODI of a five-match series at Headingley two days later.

Born in Pietermaritzburg, Pietersen controversially quit South Africa in protest at a racial quota policy he believed was hampering his chances of making it as a professional player.

Some English cricket fans may be uneasy with a South African-born captain of their national side — and plenty of South Africans are not thrilled by the prospect either, even though Pietersen’s mother is English.“I get it at every single ground,” Pietersen said. “At The Oval, the other day, fielding on the boundary, there were a lot of South Africans in the crowd, hammering me.

“That’s just what I’ve got to deal with.

“At the end of the day, people can see how passionate I am and how much I want to win for England,” added Pietersen, who made his debut for English county Nottinghamshire in 2001 before qualifying for his adopted country three years later.

“That’s the only thing I think about, winning games for England. I love playing for England, it’s the best thing ever.”Pietersen will not be the first South African-born captain of England.

Team-mate Andrew Strauss, born in Johannesburg but educated in England, did the job in the absence of Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff while Allan Lamb led the side in three Tests in the 1990s when Graham Gooch was out injured.—AFP