England Vs South Africa - Cricket Tour 2012

[Jürgen4PM]

I can understand why people don't like KP, but the fact remains that he's our best batsman in every single format of the game by fucking miles. I hope we get at least another 2 years of test match cricket out of him, i'll miss watching him bat when he does finally pack it in.

 

[Red Astaire]

I can understand why people don't like KP, but the fact remains that he's our best batsman in every single format of the game by fucking miles. I hope we get at least another 2 years of test match cricket out of him, i'll miss watching him bat when he does finally pack it in.

I agree. I just wish he would start to become a more team player.

 

[dave2]

Best player by miles??

Cook might have something to say about that.

Just watched the full interview and its great news he has comitted.

 

[Red Astaire]

Best player by miles??

Cook might have something to say about that.

Just watched the full interview and its great news he has comitted.

Indeed.

 

[dave2]

KP dropped.

Its become a circus.

 

[Portly]

I'd say that dropping KP puts an end to the circus. Right decision in my opinion.

 

[kingjulian]

I dunno. I'm not arguing that KP's massive ego did not cause all this... But from where I'm sitting, it looks like Kp has been had.

They have a "fruitful" conversation and probably urged him to release that video, and now have dropped him to embarrass him publicly. He is now the joke of the town for releasing that video only to be dropped.

The reason for dropping him is comical.... "he did not prove that he didn't send the alleged messages"

Arf!

If that isn't petulant then they need redefine the word in Oxford dictionary. It is an alleged comment, Pietersen did not demand proof for his team mates not releasing information about him to the blogger did he.

For me it looks like he was willing to meet them half way, but the team management decided to embarrass him publicly instead!

For the love of God, I hope England don't win the game.... I just cannot deal with self righteous comments that are gonna follow that.

 

[kingjulian]

Sorry about the missing articles and poor grammar in that rant.... The phone isn't that conducive to rant!

 

[dave2]

I'd say that dropping KP puts an end to the circus. Right decision in my opinion.

So is that the end of KP as a test player?? Or are saying pick him again for New Zealand or who ever we have next??

This will be a sad way to end if he jacks it in now. Yes he is outspoken, yes he clearly sometimes does whats best for himself rather than the team but on his day he is as good a test match batsman as anyone playing. So for me the ECB need to sort this mess out and get him back in the side.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

Here we go again with the shooting ourselves in the foot after a period of success.

Not only are we going to be far weaker for this, but we're going to be a hell of a lot less entertaining to watch as well.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

I guess this is a good thing for SA but I dunno - it's fun to watch him, even if he's destroying your team, when he's on song.

 

[dave2]

He is not destroying our team. He is just one of a lot of players who should be professional enough to play a good test with or without KP. We are still a top test side who with a bit of luck and some decent weather can remain #1. Its not exactly the best thing to happen just before a huge test match but i think the other 11 can still get a result. Gonna be a great test i just hope the weather is fine.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

He is not destroying our team. He is just one of a lot of players who should be professional enough to play a good test with or without KP. We are still a top test side who with a bit of luck and some decent weather can remain #1. Its not exactly the best thing to happen just before a huge test match but i think the other 11 can still get a result. Gonna be a great test i just hope the weather is fine.

I didn't mean it like that - "even when he's destroying your team," i.e. even when he's destroying MY team ...

 

[dave2]

Oh. Sorry. Carry on..

 

[SummerOnions]

Good decision, bring Bairstow in.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

South Africa dismiss Kevin Pietersen texts as acceptable 'banter'

• South Africa team manager confirms existence of texts
• No approach has been made by England to see messages

• 

South Africa have confirmed Kevin Pietersen sent texts to the South Africa squad but denied they were anything more than 'banter'. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Action Images
South Africa's team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee has confirmed the existence of texts between the England batsman Kevin Pietersen and South Africa players but says they were nothing more than "banter". He rejected suggestions that the South African players involved were Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers.
Moosajee has also said that no formal approach has been made by the England and Wales Cricket Board to see Pietersen's text messages.
Pietersen was dropped by England for this week's third Test at Lord's after failing to reveal the contents of messages sent to South Africa players during the drawn match at Headingley. The ECB had told Pietersen his selection was dependant on him confirming publicly that no derogatory texts about his team-mates had been sent, or if they had been sent, to apologise for them.
In a prepared statement, Moosajee insisted the messages contained nothing more than "banter" before he and the South Africa coach Gary Kirsten refused to take questions on the matter.
"There has been untruthful allegations in the media implicating members of our squad in the issue between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB," Moosajee said. "We stand by the same stance we have taken since we heard the news about these allegations. Yes, text messages were sent but like we said before it was banter among team-mates, which is perfectly acceptable. The ECB has not made a formal approach to myself or any member of the team to see the text messages, as reported in the media.
"Allegations that Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers were the recipients of the texts are unfounded. Until such time that the allegations are met with the correct facts and evidence, we shall not comment.
"The internal issue between Kevin Pietersen and the English cricket board has been publicised for weeks, even before we arrived in the UK and we don't want to get ourselves involved in an issue that has nothing to do with us."

 

[dave2]

It's just the ECB looking for an excuse to give Pietersen the chop for all the "I am retired" "I am now not retired" stuff.

I wish both parties would sit down behind closed doors and sort this mess out.

 

[kingjulian]

This is beyond the pale from the ECB actually. I actually have sympathy for Pietersen, and believe me, i don't like him.

I think they led him towards making that video and shafted him, so he comes across like a pathetic loser now...

All these events now force me to believe that what Pietersen originally alleged about his team mates leaking information about him to that blogger. I originally thought he was just being paranoid.....

 

[dave2]

I think he was honest and put all his cards on the table, said money was important but not the be all and end all and the ECB have dismissed it all.

There is going to be two losers if this makes him retire from international cricket - England and Cricket.

 

[Red Astaire]

Fuck that. I think he's a self serving twat (albeit a good cricketer) The ECB have stitched him but he deserves it. Glad Bairstow is getting the opportunity.

 

[Portly]

It must have been difficult for the England management to accept when Pietersen announced that he wasn't going to play in one-day internationals any more. It's a privilege to be selected to play in any match for England, and for Pietersen to want to pick and choose which matches he would agree to play in was a slap in the face. Then all Pietersen's unprofessional fucking about with Twitter was the straw that broke the camel's back. He deserves no sympathy because he has dug his own grave,

 

[kingjulian]

It must have been difficult for the England management to accept when Pietersen announced that he wasn't going to play in one-day internationals any more. It's a privilege to be selected to play in any match for England, and for Pietersen to want to pick and choose which matches he would agree to play in was a slap in the face. Then all Pietersen's unprofessional fucking about with Twitter was the straw that broke the camel's back. He deserves no sympathy because he has dug his own grave,

Is it such a crime? Malinga has done that. He said no to Test Cricket. Brett Lee retired from test cricket. Shaun Tait retired from test cricket. Shane Bond too. Rahul Dravid retired from One day cricket. Sachin Tendulkar retired from international 20-20 cricket.

The difference is that the other boards have moved on, and found replacements. Not petulantly hound these guys out from the other forms of cricket that they were interested in playing.

 

[Portly]

Is it such a crime? Malinga has done that. He said no to Test Cricket. Brett Lee retired from test cricket. Shaun Tait retired from test cricket. Shane Bond too. Rahul Dravid retired from One day cricket. Sachin Tendulkar retired from international 20-20 cricket

As far as I am aware, they were all players who through age or fitness problems, came to a reasonable agreement with their boards to restrict the games they would play in. Pietersen is still in his prime and didn't consult with the ECB, he just announced his decision. The ECB don't like being treated like that.

 

[Jürgen4PM]

The list goes on and on KJ, every other cricket playing nation allows it's players to quit certain formats of the game. If the ECB had handled this right, they could of simply blooded a few youngsters into the 50 over side and got them ready to step in to the test team in a couple of years time (when KP was likely to want to retire).

 

[dave2]

Exactly cricket has changed. There is a lot of games and with IPL etc some players coming towards the end of their career will always tinker what sort of cricket they play.

Yes to me the England cap should be grabbed with both hands and an honour in whatever form of the game but that's life. And anyway KP saw the errors of his ways and then committed to England in all formats.

What if he came out and said I want to pack in limited overs cricket to carry on playing tests for another few years?? Still hang him out to dry??

I want the best players playing for England and KP is just that.

 

[kingjulian]

Strangely...i can't think of a South African player (KP doesn't count) retiring from a specific format....the crazy fuckers will play them all and play 365 days a year, if it was possible.

 

[Red Astaire]

There is an element of him 'going rogue' though. He did all of this because he thinks he is SO important to the team that they will pander to him. He should have learnt his lesson with the Peter Moores debacle. All this 'will I quit?' rubbish he was spouting on TMS was surely the final straw. The fact is when selected to play for your country you fucking play. Yes when you get older you can tone it down like Brett Lee etc. This is not the case with KP. He wants to sacrifice playing for his (not really) country to play in the IPL. I say the ECB have done the right thing. Give his place to a nipper that wants to play.

 

[kingjulian]

If there is 10 times what ECB contract pays you on offer, for just turning up for a month of Cricket, i'm sure a lot of people will have their head turned. Even if the honor of playing for the country is at stake.

What if KP had said that he wants to spend more time with family, so he only wants to concentrate on two formats of Cricket? Would that be acceptable? It shouldn't be up to the cricket board to judge the ethics of a decision to retire from a format. The question simply is does a person have right to play only in selected formats of the game? You can't say yes under certain circumstances, and then no under certain circumstances.

Of course ECB can renogitate the contract by all means if the player retires from a format.

I think all t20 club cricket should be held in a particular window allocated in the FTP to avoid this mess. It's again ECB that stands in the way of moving in that direction, because other boards will make more money than them. So it's a bit rich for them to accuse Pietersen of being greedy/

 

[Jürgen4PM]

TBF mate, we've got to make our money somwhere now that Stanford is in jail.

 

[bryndaloo]

It's not about him retiring from limited over cricket though is it? He wanted to play a full IPL season so that he could make an extra £500,000. this would have meant him missing two test matches agains NZ next summer which, rightly in my opinion, was unacceptable to the ECB.
When he signed his (very lucrative may I add) central contract with the ECB, he was aware that the limited overs contract was just that - for all forms of limited overs cricket and no choice could be made to opt for one or the other. then to try and renegotiate for personal gain was just plain wrong.
As for the text saga, he wasn't asked to prove he hadn't sent derogatory messages, he was asked to deny that he had - he couldn't do so even when given 6 extra hours in which to do so.
Don't get me wrong, I think KP is a fantastic player, and England best and most exciting batsman. He just seems to think that he's more important than the team - see his previous with Peter Moores.