I saw a piece by Ted Corbett and some tweets and strong opinions in favour of Kevin Pietersen and how such a great batsman and entertainer should never be dropped. You could as well not give him out on the cricket field going by that logic, so we could watch him all day and get entertained.
I have never been a great fan of the great individuals in a team game who consider themselves superior to the team. Not saying that KP was a team man or not - I don't have enough information about that. (There are opinions from his colleagues who have said he has a fine work ethic etc)
Being a high run getter for the team is certainly great value and no team would want to drop such a player unless he is creating a discord or being a disruptive influence on the team. Then you have a problem. There are fourteen others in the team who depend on the team effort and one person cannot drag the team in his own direction.
Secondly it Is believed that Captain Cook and KP have had differences. Once again not much information. But unless there is such an emergency and gross flouting of guidelines and directives, dissent against the leader cannot go beyond a point. To me it does not sound good when I hear that the star player is having differences with the captain - when in fact he should be showing solidarity and setting a good example.
Any team in the world would like to have a batsman of KP's value. Why then would he be shunted off by the ECB unless there is a strong reason? I would not keep him in the team if he was a disruptive influence, and has continued being disruptive despite warnings. KP is no spring chicken and knows how it works. I would not consider him for selection just because he is an entertainer. The game is certainly bigger than one individual and the team is certainly more important than the star player. Yes, if necessary the ECB could clarify the reasons - seems obvious to me already.
But what I will fault ECB for is the life long ban or something to that effect. Every person needs a chance to redeem himself or herself. If a mistake has been done, and KP's ways might not be so serious in nature, he should be given a lay off , a warning and then be allowed to present his case as a cricketer again. Anything that is long term or lifelong in nature for minor offences is unjust and unfair. I do hope better sense finally prevails and the individual learns his ways and the management learns theirs.
I have never been a great fan of the great individuals in a team game who consider themselves superior to the team. Not saying that KP was a team man or not - I don't have enough information about that. (There are opinions from his colleagues who have said he has a fine work ethic etc)
Being a high run getter for the team is certainly great value and no team would want to drop such a player unless he is creating a discord or being a disruptive influence on the team. Then you have a problem. There are fourteen others in the team who depend on the team effort and one person cannot drag the team in his own direction.
Secondly it Is believed that Captain Cook and KP have had differences. Once again not much information. But unless there is such an emergency and gross flouting of guidelines and directives, dissent against the leader cannot go beyond a point. To me it does not sound good when I hear that the star player is having differences with the captain - when in fact he should be showing solidarity and setting a good example.
Any team in the world would like to have a batsman of KP's value. Why then would he be shunted off by the ECB unless there is a strong reason? I would not keep him in the team if he was a disruptive influence, and has continued being disruptive despite warnings. KP is no spring chicken and knows how it works. I would not consider him for selection just because he is an entertainer. The game is certainly bigger than one individual and the team is certainly more important than the star player. Yes, if necessary the ECB could clarify the reasons - seems obvious to me already.
But what I will fault ECB for is the life long ban or something to that effect. Every person needs a chance to redeem himself or herself. If a mistake has been done, and KP's ways might not be so serious in nature, he should be given a lay off , a warning and then be allowed to present his case as a cricketer again. Anything that is long term or lifelong in nature for minor offences is unjust and unfair. I do hope better sense finally prevails and the individual learns his ways and the management learns theirs.
No comments:
Post a Comment