Kevin Pietersen accepted the England captaincy only after he and coach Peter Moores met to iron out reported differences between them.

He mostly said all the right things at his press conference at Lord’s, and will be a media man’s delight with his readiness to answer any question at length.

Well nearly every question, as happened when he dodged one about his future involvement with the Indian Premier League and another about the heavy critiicism he received from ex-cricketers following the way he got out on 94 last Friday in the Edgbaston Test.

On the IPL, he said, “This has all happened so quickly that I have not given it a thought. I need to concentrate on the Oval Test this week and nothing else is on my mind.”

But in the last few weeks, he has had plenty to say about the freedom to pick and choose to maximise his income. Because of his stance, it is reported that offered central contracts to England players are still unsigned pending further negotiations between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Professional Cricketers’ Association.

On his dismissal, he said: “There were a couple of adverse criticisms, but it doesn’t bother me and there were plenty of comments the other way."

Really? The “couple of critics” include Michael Atherton, Graham Gooch, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart, Geoffrey Boycott and Derek Pringle.

The bigger surprise about the side he will lead at The Oval is that Ravi Bopara for Michael Vaughan is the only change from the 13-man squad chosen for Edgbaston.

Warwickshire’s Tim Ambrose is retained (but not for the ODIs later this month) and that means another nearly impossible task to square the circle concerning the balance of the side.

Paul Collingwood will be retained as one of either five or six batsmen. If five, then Bopara will not play. If six batsmen again, then it will be a four-man attack, and why is Ryan Sidebottom still in the squad?

He was off the pace in every meaning of the word and Stuart Broad is also retained after being left out for a rest which he spent bowling for his county.

Steve Harmison could play, but surely never again as one of a four-man attack. The new captain has to decide with Moores the balance of a side to play in a dead Test.

The selectors had a great chance to make more than the one enforced change to bring a breath of fresh air into the dressing-room but national selector Geoff Miller’s words that “now is the time to move on and we think these players are the ones to do it.” are meaningless window-dressing. Most of them have created the mess in which the national side finds itself.

The big plus for Pietersen is that the captaincy could be the making of him as a team man, and could help him bridge the gap between “a nearly great” and the real thing.

At present, his profit column for England is massive but the debit column carries at least a dozen too many entries.

Will the responsibility of captaincy with all the burdens on and off the field that did for Gooch, Atherton, Hussain and now Vaughan take the marvellous flair out of his game?

Nobody knows, not even the man himself, but the ride between now and next March will be a rollercoaster. Seat belts will be strapped tightly by management, officials and supporters alike.