ECB never liked me for my henceforth thinking - Kevin Pietersen 

KP also talked about how he doesn't like seeing England fail and expressed sympathy towards players involved in the recent ball tampering saga.

The former England Cricketer will be doing commentary during the IPL this season.

Kevin Pietersen the former England Cricketer who recently retired from all forms of the game has expressed that he was “flabbergasted” when he got the news that Andrew Strauss the ex England captain and the current Director of Cricket said that Kevin is the best player he played alongside for the three lions, in his column that he wrote for The Spectator UK. 

Over the platform, Kevin also made his views clear about why he didn't do any press conference to announce the retirement. About his relationship with the cricket covering media, KP wrote, “I’ve enjoyed watching the reaction in the media. You realise that when you’re playing, people are there to take potshots at you. I didn’t grow up with the tall poppy syndrome in South Africa, and I hated it when I started to experience it in the UK,” wrote Pietersen. “I didn’t want to do press conferences because I hated everything the media stood for, and when they had the opportunity to take me down, they did."
He further wrote“But you also know that when sportsmen retire, the potshots have to stop, so people might as well say something nice. Still, I was flabbergasted to read Andrew Strauss say I was the best cricketer he’d played with. He was the one who made me stop! A couple of my buddies were fuming but I laughed and told them not to worry about it. There’s so much water under the bridge now. It’s gone.”

KP also pointed out how his views & ways that were often revolutionary and I dare say uncomfortable for English Cricket back in the days were never been touched upon with an open mind by the ECB people. He singled out the time when he prioritised the IPL and England cringed it, “The only line I really enjoyed was a report that said I was like an annoying alarm clock for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that kept going off early,” wrote Pietersen. “I was the first to play in the Indian Premier League, and that contributed to my demise with England. Now they send players off every chance they get. I was always ahead of the ECB and they hated it.” 

KP who is currently in Africa trying to promote the noble cause for saving Rhinos but he said he has been keeping an eye on the cricket happening around the world. He also cleared that he doesn't take any pleasure seeing England perform poorly, “I’ve been watching the South Africa vs Australia series, which has been engaging and is in the right time zone, but I’m not going to get up at midnight to watch England vs New Zealand. Still, I take no pleasure in seeing them get all out for 58. I’m a positive person, and there are some really good young guys in that set-up.”

KP didn't leave the ball-tampering saga from his column and also feels sympathy for the overreaction that has come at the doors of the three players involved.  “Seeing Steve Smith crying on TV the other day, I really felt for him and the others caught up in the Australian ball-tampering controversy, they’ve made mistakes, but the whole thing has shown the power of social media. The anger and the animosity from the Australian public, and the global community wouldn’t have been as severe without Twitter and Facebook. If social media had been around for Mike Atherton’s ball-tampering scandal in 1994, he would have been ruined.”


 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 06 Apr, 2018

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