Freelance could be the only option for unwanted KP

I was interested to read today that former Surrey captain Mark Butcher believes KP’s stay at the Oval will be brief.

Butch told TalkSport: ‘It's just a loan. Surrey are essentially doing the ECB a favour in taking him, so where that leaves KP when he is looking for a county next year I don't know.’

KP seems to think that any county would be crazy not to want him. His original statement on leaving Hampshire (‘geographically it just doesn't work...I live in Chelsea’) seemed to presume that the two London-based teams would fight over his signature.

But why should they? Surrey’s apparent refusal to commit long-term to KP makes sense. If KP is playing well, he won’t be playing for them, he’ll be playing for England. If he’s playing badly, why should they drop someone else to make room for an out-of-form player with no real interest in the club?

Surrey are pretty poor at the moment, but even they aren’t so desperate that they are prepared to be used as some kind of KP form-finding testing ground. Surely Surrey need players who are prepared to work for the team, not just themselves.

There is a pattern here. KP’s time in South Africa ended in tears (his view of Graeme Smith - ‘an absolute muppet’), his time at Nottinghamshire ended in tears (Jason Gallian throwing his equipment off the balcony), and now it’s ended in tears at Hampshire too.

Why should we believe that things would end any differently at Surrey or Middlesex?