Was Kevin Pietersen scapegoated for the 2013/14 Ashes series?

[Savak]

There is not a single batsman of his class in English Cricket and boy they could have done with someone like him in such a one dimensional batting line up. He fell very hard victim to the classic bullying culture in the English team where he was strongly disliked by Prior, Anderson, Broad, Swann and I cannot believe that they got rid of KP under the demand of Cook and Strauss.

I wonder who will they scapegoat for this debacle now or will the untouchable cabal will continue to play for the English team.

 

[Gilly]

Pietersen seems like the sort of person with an ego five sizes bigger than most.

 

[jadaja]

He was scapegoated, he was the highest scorer for England in that series.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Yes now move on.

 

[Robert]

No. Flower wanted rid of KP because of his behaviour. He wanted him gone to prevent his childish attitude affecting new players coming in, and was waiting for him to have a bad series so he could be dropped.

The bad series arrived, and Flower had the ammunition he needed.

Unfortunately the entire England top six had a bad series too.....

 

[TestMatch]

I think a clique of alpha male personalities (Broad and his posse) in the team shifted from bullying him to outright scapegoating him. Ostracized, and with no one to fight his corner with him, he was given the boot. It's telling that Cook, a yes man, but polite and with a personality at odds with many of his teammates, never had any real problems with KP.

 

[Robert]

It's telling that Cook, a yes man, but polite and with a personality at odds with many of his teammates, never had any real problems with KP.

Yeah, he did. Cook lobbied to get KP back after Textgate but even he lost patience eventually and wanted him out of the side.

 

[shane]

It has become clear ever since Pietersen took up commentary that he was 100% to blame for his demise.

 

[James]

Interestingly KP had the exact same batting average in the 2013/14 series (29) as Joe Root does in this series - and nobody seems that impressed with Root’s performance levels recently, so....

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Interestingly KP had the exact same batting average in the 2013/14 series (29) as Joe Root does in this series - and nobody seems that impressed with Root’s performance levels recently, so....

KP was the highest scorer in that series.Malan has outperformed Root here.

 

[aniket1911]

If one of the player from my team, INDIA, did sort of thing KP did, my countrymen would be asking for his head before he can even apologize. I have seen enough of his interviews to conclude that guy is highly opinionated and one can fly an aeroplane with the amount of ego he have. Too many jagged ends in his personality to play a team game .

 

[Robert]

If one of the player from my team, INDIA, did sort of thing KP did, my countrymen would be asking for his head before he can even apologize. I have seen enough of his interviews to conclude that guy is highly opinionated and one can fly an aeroplane with the amount of ego he have. Too many jagged ends in his personality to play a team game .

Really?

I get the impression that India is the land of the personality cult of the hero who is more important than the team.

 

[hadi123]

Kevin Pietersen has confirmed the current KFC Big Bash League will be his last following the Melbourne Stars’ six-wicket defeat to the Renegades in the MCG derby.

Pietersen posted his best knock of BBL|07 to date on Saturday night, scoring a 30-ball 40 in the Stars’ first-innings total of 4-157.

After play, he confirmed to reporters that he would not be returning in BBL|08.

Pietersen forecast the decision before the start of the season, admitting to cricket.com.au that his energy to keep playing was "dwindling".

"I am definitely coming to the end of my playing time," Pietersen told cricket.com.au. "So I am definitely going to enjoy the last few digs.

"It's fairly close.

"It's the practice that you look at and you just think, 'do I want to do it?'

"I've still got the energy at the moment but it's dwindling."

Pietersen was struck on the ankle while batting at the MCG on Saturday night and while he continued batting, he took no part in the Stars' fielding innings.

Since being controversially banished from the England Test side following their 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, the 37-year-old has become one of the most sought-after T20 players in domestic leagues around the world.

Pietersen has been the leading run-scorer for Melbourne Stars in each of his three seasons with the BBL club, though a maiden title remains elusive for the MCG-based side despite being a consistent presence in the finals since the tournament's inception.

In January last year, the Stars announced that Pietersen had signed a contract that tied him to the club until the end of this BBL season.

The dynamic batsman pulled out of this year's edition of the Indian Premier League ahead of the auction, while he played his final match in the United Kingdom in July after signing off with a two-game stint with Surrey.

He has been retained by his Pakistan Super League side Quetta Gladiators following last month’s draft, and is set to take part in that event in what could be his cricketing swansong.

"I’m coming to the end of my career," said the former England captain.

"My career is not going to be defined on how I play in the Big Bash.

"My career has already been defined by all my ups and downs though a long career.

"It’s my job to come here and help others, help the youngsters, be a good influence, be a positive influence on the team.

"That’s what I’ve done for three or four years."

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/kevi...t-season-melbourne-stars-renegades/2018-01-06

 

[Lefthanded]

"It’s my job to come here and help others, help the youngsters, be a good influence, be a positive influence on the team.

"That’s what I’ve done for three or four years."

Have any youngsta beauties actually come out and confirmed KP's positive influence on them? I've read him going on about it for the past couple of years but haven't read anyone confirming he's actually useful in that regard.

 

[Itachi]

Really?

I get the impression that India is the land of the personality cult of the hero who is more important than the team.

It goes both ways. People will pray you. But it won't be too long when people will ask for head. Goes to extreme.

Only invincible was perhaps Tendulkar but he did earn it.

 

[Varun]

I've read his book, followed the back-to-back Ashes, and England in general through Flower's time (2009 - 2014).

And I support KP. Flower was too dictatorial, and the likes of Swann and Broad too immature.

 

[backfootpunch]

Easy to jump to conclusions because of the text gate saga but the point is if they wanted to ban him for life, then they should have stood by it rather than calling him back just so that he can be of use in the series in India and then continue with him until he is of no use.

Yes he was bullied and was scapegoated and funnily enough no one has mentioned the fake twitter account that was made of him from Broad et al but they never got punished because he had the connections in and outside the team.

 

[English August]

Interestingly KP had the exact same batting average in the 2013/14 series (29) as Joe Root does in this series - and nobody seems that impressed with Root’s performance levels recently, so....

And yet there is next to 0% chance of Root being kicked out after this Ashes debacle, but KP was. Tomorrow Root will score soft runs (a pretty 85 perhaps) now that the series is lost, and the English establishment will go back to saying that their pretty boy is the best thing that happened to cricket since, well, their other pretty boys, e.g., Cook and Strauss. Typical English cricket.

 

[English August]

I've read his book, followed the back-to-back Ashes, and England in general through Flower's time (2009 - 2014).

And I support KP. Flower was too dictatorial, and the likes of Swann and Broad too immature.

Agreed. As I mentioned in another thread, English cricket establishment can't deal with those who don't "fit in." They wouldn't have been able to handle rough-at-the-edges folks like Ganguly, Ponting, Warne and would have kicked them out long before they reached their full potential. They like conformists and order-takers.

Good to see that Strauss has transitioned from being the order-taker to order-giver, so he can continue perpetuating the conformist culture.

 

[Hasan123]

He was 35 when he was dropped. His best years were behind him and he had a dodgy knee and achillies. England move on at the right time.

 

[Varun]

Agreed. As I mentioned in another thread, English cricket establishment can't deal with those who don't "fit in." They wouldn't have been able to handle rough-at-the-edges folks like Ganguly, Ponting, Warne and would have kicked them out long before they reached their full potential. They like conformists and order-takers.

Correct. It's no surprise that England are a hub of vanilla cricketers as a result - from Cook to Anderson, Root to Bairstow. There's very little encouragement given to players with that oomph factor. Which doesn't make them too relatable to other teams' fans too.

 

[Robert]

Agreed. As I mentioned in another thread, English cricket establishment can't deal with those who don't "fit in." They wouldn't have been able to handle rough-at-the-edges folks like Ganguly, Ponting, Warne and would have kicked them out long before they reached their full potential. They like conformists and order-takers.

Good to see that Strauss has transitioned from being the order-taker to order-giver, so he can continue perpetuating the conformist culture.

Trueman, Illingworth, Snow, Edmonds, Botham, Gower, Flintoff, Swann and Stokes were all nonconfomists who had fine England careers.

They were, however, also team men.

By "English cricket establishment" I think you mean Andy Flower of Zimbabwe.

 

[English August]

Trueman, Illingworth, Snow, Edmonds, Botham, Gower, Flintoff, Swann and Stokes were all nonconfomists who had fine England careers.

They were, however, also team men.

By "English cricket establishment" I think you mean Andy Flower of Zimbabwe.

I won't comment on the first 3, they played well before my time and I don't know much about them. I'd say you have a strange definition of "fine England career" if you think Edmonds had one of those. Only reason he played for England was because your first choice spinner, John Emburey, went to RSA on a rebel tour. He was promptly dropped after Emburey returned (just like Fowler was dropped for Gooch, despite a highly successful tour to India where he played alongside Edmonds). I don't know what was non-conformist about Gower. He was a classic establishment figure. If you'd mentioned Gatting, I'd have probably paid attention. Botham had a successful career, but a rather controversial one by English standards. He was always on the "edge" in my view. They tolerated him as an allrounder because he was so hugely talented, but they didn't let him skipper the side for more than 1-2 series (IIRC). Ditto Flinotoff. Actually his career wasn't as successful as Botham's. I'd argue that someone like Flitoff would have been more successful with other boards.

It's ironical that you'd include Stokes in there. He's barely started, and sat out the Ashes (the one series you guys keep telling us you value the most), where he could have made a big difference.

And no, in my mind, Andy Flower isn't same as English establishment. To me it's the Middlesex/Surrey/Yorks mafia that runs the English cricket, the media and the snobbish fans (the ones who were jacket and ties to cricket games!).

It's strange that you'd still associate Andy Flower with Zimbabwe. Yes, he played for them, but was hounded out by Mugabe. He's settled in England now, married an English girl (I think ... I could be wrong) and plays a senior role in cricket administration after coaching your team for a number of years. What else does a man need to do to lose the "of Zimbabwe" association in your mind? He probably doesn't have the right accent, but give it time, he'll get there.

 

[Robert]

You seem to think Establishment means rich but it doesn’t, it means the power structure.

Edmonds came from a family who had links to the black rebels in Northern Rhodesia. He was under surveillance by their government. The reason he didn’t play so many tests is because Brearley (as Establishment as they come) didn’t like him. After Emburey returned to the side they played a lot of tests together - against Australia at home and away, and against Pakistan at home. He was a team man though.

Gower was dropped because he got up Gooch’s Establishment nose. But he was a team man.

They didn’t let Botham skipper the side much because he lost six tests and won none out of eleven, while losing personal form. He was a constant thorn in the Establishment side, hitting headlines for all the wrong reasons, but they kept picking him. He was a team man.

I include Stokes because he is not the sort of bloke the Establishment likes. Brash, aggressive and Northern. But he is a team man.

KP is not a team man, which is why he was dropped when he stopped producing runs.