But I suppose Bell Jones and Giles are easier to spell than Pietersen England

But I suppose Bell, Jones and Giles are easier to spell than Pietersen

England careers have got off to better starts. Many members of England’s 14-man squad will have spent the last few weeks worrying about the consequences of their visit to this region of Southern Africa, but Pietersen was not one of them.”I am not fussed about the politics,” he told me at the National Academy at Loughborough. It is a description he is aware of and after spending an hour in his company, before England set off on their one-day tour of Namibia and Zimbabwe, I could not work out whether this is the case, or that he is an ambitious man who will allow nothing to stop him achieving what he wants in the game.This includes Zimbabwe. Self-belief is a quality that has never been lacking in the game of this talented and highly motivated 24-year-old.Views of Pietersen vary considerably. Nobody doubts his ability, but to many in county cricket he is perceived as arrogant.

“We’ve decided to spend that money on extra champagne instead.”Neil, who was to have donned leather bondage gear for the event, has few regrets. The couple were due to open the Erotica exhibition – the “adult entertainment” industry’s annual trade fair – at Olympia on Thursday, but have suddenly cancelled, following a disagreement over their fee.”We were about to sign a contract, when we were told they wanted more cash than we’d originally budgeted for,” says an organiser. I can’t venture publicly into this area again.”* Believe it or not, Neil and Christine Hamilton have missed an opportunity to cash in on what remains of their dignity. And now that very book – provisional title: A Different Bomb – has been abandoned.”This is the book I spoke about that was in preparation when I was arrested,” reads an explanation, on his personal website. “It’s about the impact and danger of child porn on the internet: essays about and interviews with casualties of abuse or survivors like myself I have shelved it. Shortly afterwards, he was placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

It’s a shame, since UKIP were invited to brief the duo and had suggested some questions which (I am assured) would have bought old Orange Gob to the boil.”Channel Four told us they wanted train-wreck television, but they didn’t use our questions, so it ended up being a fawning interview,” says a party source.Over to Morgan & Platell ’s producers: “We asked a number of people to help in research, but some of the issues that UKIP suggested didn’t fit with the tone of the show.”* PETE TOWNSHEND has scrapped his long-awaited book on child sex abuse.Two years ago, the Who guitarist – who was arrested for accessing child pornography on the internet – said he’d been “researching” a memoir on the subject. They are now expected to read the riot act to publicity-hungry MPs, prior to the next State Opening on Tuesday.* READERS MAY wish to join me in bidding a fond farewell to Janet Street-Porter, who is off to Melbourne to take part in the latest series of I’m a Celebrity … Get me Out of Here.If nothing else, my colleague is likely to stir things up a treat in the Australian bush, where the reality TV series is being made.”I’m flying out later than all the other people on the show, because I don’t want to spend time with the sort of people I wouldn’t want to know anyway,” she explains, cheerily.JS-P’s fellow contestants include Sophie Anderton (“has she read any books?”), Paul Burrell (“I’ll get him to help with my washing”), and the fallen teen idol Brian Harvey.But unlike previous contestants, she’s unlikely to find love on the show: “I would rather sleep with a cockroach than with any of that lot,” she adds.* PIERS MORGAN and Amanda Platell (pictured) didn’t exactly put Robert Kilroy-Silk to the sword on their political TV show at the weekend. “Sir Michael has decided to flex his muscles and put an end to it.