World cricket is suffering and lacks major stars : Kevin Pietersen

[shaaik]

Cape Town - England legend Kevin Pietersen says he is concerned about the current state of cricket around the globe, citing a lack of world class stars as one of the game's major challenges.

Pietersen was in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg on Thursday filming a documentary on his life with Sky Sports.

When speaking to The Witness newspaper, Pietersen opened up on his worries with modern-day cricket, saying how the standard of cricket has dropped, not just in South Africa but the whole world.

"I think the world of cricket is actually suffering. I’ve done an interview recently, I don’t think the standard is what it used to be and I’m only talking six, seven, eight or nine years ago," he said.


"The standard was magnificent then with guys like (Kumar) Sangakkara, (Brett) Lee, Chris Gayle, (Dwayne) Bravo, Brian Lara and all these other great players.

"I don’t see many of them around anymore. Virat Kohli is probably the only global superstar in cricket right now.

"Ten years ago, there were great Australians that we used to play against, such as (Ricky) Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and all those guys. I mean, the world of cricket is suffering."

https://m.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/kp-world-cricket-suffering-lacks-major-stars-20181214

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

I agree with Kevin Pietersen, Virat Kohli is only global superstar. Nowadays I hardly watch cricket like I used to, interest is dying.

 

[the Great Khan]

who cares? as long as India is fine everyone else can go and jump in the river right??

 

[MenInG]

Actually am glad that is the case - these superstars hold too much sway on cricket. Good to see ordinary people do well also

 

[Mamoon]

“Dwayne Bravo” is a superstar but some of the top players in the world today are not.

 

[barah_admi]

Not sure about his selection of star players lol but I understand the point he is making. There is a distinct lack of marquee names, something cricket ha dno problem with through the 80s, 90s and part of the last decade.

Even kohli is not the star pr companies would like you to believe. He and his team of so called superstars have failed to bring in the crowds in the current tour and in England just a few months ago.

Obviously part of it is due to lack of quality (cricket thrives when there are great fast bowlers) and the homogeneity of modern play, flat pitches, huge bat's, big runs.

Having said that, England itself in terms of creating stars is doing very well. Root, stokes, Ali and Co are all well known by cricket standards and Ali just had a best selling autobiography. The short format teams are doing great and producing poster boy players.

However, the traditional star teams of pakistan and Australia are suffering, a lack of cohesion and long term planning is obviously to blame.

 

[Robert]

KP succumbs to the “better in my day” syndrome.

There are plenty of players I like to watch just in the England side - Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Foakes, Curran.

 

[Stalin]

So Dwayne bravo is a global star and the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, Rohit Sharma, Rabada, Starc, Boult aren't.

 

[Varun]

Lol, this is like a statement you can rinse and repeat every generation

10 years from now we'll have a Kane Williamson come out and say "There was a big-4 during my day, cricket was so awesome then RAWR".

The past can always be looked into with rose tinted glasses.

 

[Madplayer]

KP succumbs to the “better in my day” syndrome.

There are plenty of players I like to watch just in the England side - Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Foakes, Curran.

Apart from Stokes, none of them are blockbuster superstar material and even stokes bottles in pressure situations with the ball. Butler also has some qualities. But none of them comes close to the likes of Flintoff or Kp himself.

This is a problem in international circuit these days. Kohli is a rare surviving superstar after retirement of ABD and Afridi. Steyn is also on his last legs now and so is gayle. Steve smith is also gone for a while. Maxwell has declined badly. Maybe i am missing some players here but i cant think of any other superstars at them moment. Whether we like to accept it or not, the game needs superstars. Afridi for instance pulled crowds in UAE, which sees empty stadiums these days.

 

[James]

To be honest he is probably most concerned with himself not being a player anymore, as he will undoubtedly view himself as one of these global superstars of yesteryear.

 

[Shandarchowka]

Warner, Smith, Starc, Amla, Faf, Rabada, Steyn, Kane, Boult, Root, Anderson, Stokes!, Buttler, Kohli, Babar, Amir are all global superstars.

Not sure what Pieter is on about!

 

[Shandarchowka]

If we just talk about stardom - as in being followed wherever they go - Kohli, Amir, Stokes are undoubtedly the biggest of them all.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Apart from Stokes, none of them are blockbuster superstar material and even stokes bottles in pressure situations with the ball. Butler also has some qualities. But none of them comes close to the likes of Flintoff or Kp himself.

This is a problem in international circuit these days. Kohli is a rare surviving superstar after retirement of ABD and Afridi. Steyn is also on his last legs now and so is gayle. Steve smith is also gone for a while. Maxwell has declined badly. Maybe i am missing some players here but i cant think of any other superstars at them moment. Whether we like to accept it or not, the game needs superstars. Afridi for instance pulled crowds in UAE, which sees empty stadiums these days.

Since when Afridi become global cricket Superstar. Nobody in India will come to see him playing. He is more like a Pakistani star. ABD is sure a global cricket star.

 

[Robert]

Apart from Stokes, none of them are blockbuster superstar material and even stokes bottles in pressure situations with the ball. Butler also has some qualities. But none of them comes close to the likes of Flintoff or Kp himself.

This is a problem in international circuit these days. Kohli is a rare surviving superstar after retirement of ABD and Afridi. Steyn is also on his last legs now and so is gayle. Steve smith is also gone for a while. Maxwell has declined badly. Maybe i am missing some players here but i cant think of any other superstars at them moment. Whether we like to accept it or not, the game needs superstars. Afridi for instance pulled crowds in UAE, which sees empty stadiums these days.

Stokes is better than Flintoff, who never scored a test match 250 and took just three fivefers in his career. Stokes already has four of those.

You could argue that Flintoff transcended numbers due to his lifting effect on his team and how his hostility helped the other bowlers take wickets, but I would immediately say the same of Stokes.

Rabada is tearing up trees.

 

[Madplayer]

Lol, this is like a statement you can rinse and repeat every generation

10 years from now we'll have a Kane Williamson come out and say "There was a big-4 during my day, cricket was so awesome then RAWR".

The past can always be looked into with rose tinted glasses.

Lets go 10-15 years back and see how many superstars were there.

Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni, Ponting, Clarke, warne, Mcgrath, Hayden, Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Akhtar, Inzi, Afridi, Cairns, B.Mcculum, Flintoff, KP, Gibbs, Pollock, Jayasurya, Muralitharan, Gayle etc.

How many are there now?

 

[shaz619]

KP succumbs to the “better in my day” syndrome.

There are plenty of players I like to watch just in the England side - Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Foakes, Curran.

what makes stokes a star, mocking disabled children or trying to kill people in the street ?

 

[shaz619]

I agree with Kevin Pietersen, Virat Kohli is only global superstar. Nowadays I hardly watch cricket like I used to, interest is dying.

Same here, I stopped posting on the cricket frequently for a while now; I retired along with Ashraful and Ashraful Rox good to see you around buddy

 

[Executioner]

Did he just say Dwayne Bravo is a superstar?

 

[Executioner]

Too many formats have diluted the quality of cricket. It is hard to be regular in 3 forms. For example Bangladesh has one superstar- Shakib Al Hasan

 

[Varun]

Lets go 10-15 years back and see how many superstars were there.

Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni, Ponting, Clarke, warne, Mcgrath, Hayden, Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Akhtar, Inzi, Afridi, Cairns, B.Mcculum, Flintoff, KP, Gibbs, Pollock, Jayasurya, Muralitharan, Gayle etc.

How many are there now?

Judge this generation 5 years from now with the benefit of hindsight and you'll be able to come up with a similar list.

 

[topspin]

Actually am glad that is the case - these superstars hold too much sway on cricket. Good to see ordinary people do well also

So would you say you prefer the Pakistan team of the 2010s under Misbah as opposed to the ones led by Imran Khan and Wasim Akram in the 80s and 90s respectively?

I wouldn't mind the lack of star material in the Pakistan side if they were at least half decent team.

 

[Vegitto1]

These are the type of statements which makes you realise that the person is getting old on the inside. Instead of embracing change and living in the present, they start reminiscing and cling onto what has passed.

 

[Robert]

what makes stokes a star, mocking disabled children or trying to kill people in the street ?

After I started looking for the good in people instead of the bad, I have found that my life is happier.

 

[shaz619]

After I started looking for the good in people instead of the bad, I have found that my life is happier.

You should approach KP with that mindset, he is more deserving then the evil ginger bread man

 

[King-Misbah]

KP is right! 10 years ago we had Shoaib, Lee, Taut and Jones as bowling super stars who were bowling at 94/99 mph. Now we have mediocre bowlers and batsman. No fun!

 

[Robert]

You should approach KP with that mindset, he is more deserving then the evil ginger bread man

KP is forgiven.

 

[ShahidDar08]

Too many rule changes has destroyed the real cricket.

Now a days it looks like robots are playing instead of humans.

 

[ManFan]

It’s not the players but the changes in rules that have made cricket a lackluster game.

 

[Madplayer]

Judge this generation 5 years from now with the benefit of hindsight and you'll be able to come up with a similar list.

Why? What happened in last 10 years? Where did the big stars disappear?

 

[Shaka81]

KP succumbs to the “better in my day” syndrome.

There are plenty of players I like to watch just in the England side - Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Foakes, Curran.

KP is talking about global superstars. The players you just listed only Stokes is close to that but he tarnished his reputation by being an extremely unlikable person off the field. Root, Curran and Bairstow just seem very boring, not really superstar material. They may be good players stats-wise in the current era but lack the spark of genius that true star players had. I don't even know who Foakes is so I'm guessing he's someone new just starting his career and in which case it's a bit early to call him a global superstar. I'm with Ashraful_Rox, my interest in cricket is at the lowest it's ever been. I don't even care about Test cricket anymore, have little interest in ODIs and only really watch T20Is or the occasional T20 franchise game if it's on one of the free channels.
Cricket really needs more superstars or it's popularity out with the Indian subcontinent will slowly disappear.

 

[Smudger]

What about S.Smith, Williamson , Root , Stokes , Rabada , Starc , Warner , Rohit , Faf , Miller

 

[CricketDon]

who cares? as long as India is fine everyone else can go and jump in the river right??

Who’s stopping Pakistan having super stars? Fact is they are all mediocre and have no popularity and weight in the big stage.

 

[Robert]

KP is talking about global superstars. The players you just listed only Stokes is close to that but he tarnished his reputation by being an extremely unlikable person off the field. Root, Curran and Bairstow just seem very boring, not really superstar material. They may be good players stats-wise in the current era but lack the spark of genius that true star players had. I don't even know who Foakes is so I'm guessing he's someone new just starting his career and in which case it's a bit early to call him a global superstar. I'm with Ashraful_Rox, my interest in cricket is at the lowest it's ever been. I don't even care about Test cricket anymore, have little interest in ODIs and only really watch T20Is or the occasional T20 franchise game if it's on one of the free channels.
Cricket really needs more superstars or it's popularity out with the Indian subcontinent will slowly disappear.

Oh. I don’t much care about “global superstars”. I just want England to win, and they have for seven of the last eight tests, which is the format I follow.

 

[Rana]

The thing is, the extra ordinary things KP could do in his day are being replicated by the above average T20 modern batsman of today. And there is a good number of them. So in general, batting becoming so easy in the modern day has lead to a lack of genuine superstars with charisma on and off the field.

 

[Rana]

Genuine Superstars of the past 5 years,

Kohli
AB
Steyn
KP
Gayle
Watson
Afridi
Maxwell?
Smith
Starc

 

[Bhaijaan]

Genuine Superstars of the past 5 years,

Kohli - True
AB - Retired
Steyn - Career almost over
KP - Retired
Gayle - Player of the 2000s
Watson - Was never a superstar
Afridi - Player of the 90s
Maxwell? - Was never a superstar
Smith - Great player
Starc - Not a great in tests yet

Comments inside quote

 

[Shaka81]

Oh. I don’t much care about “global superstars”. I just want England to win, and they have for seven of the last eight tests, which is the format I follow.

If England are winning in a sport with ever dwindling crowds and less media coverage while having less household names, does it still feel like an achievement? I would want my team to win but in a healthy competition where the people running it are doing more to encourage people to watch and make the format fun. Part of the problem in the UK is that cricket is now behind a pay wall, so automatically it excludes a lot of existing fans from even catching a game on TV never mind encourage new fans to gain an interest in cricket.
There's not a lot going for test cricket right now to keep it's audience, too many similar pitches resulting in predictable results, very few players with huge personalities and charisma to attract crowds to the stadium and then the ECB sell TV rights to Sky and put the highlights on Channel 5 so even less people have access to watch it.

 

[cricketindiafan]

More people are watching cricket across formats, domestic T20 leagues are being played regularly with packed stands. There may not be many global superstars with universal appeal but more number of players are known outside their country compared to any other era. More cricketers are earning a living through the sport than ever before. More nations now have a competitve international team than ever before. With a fully functional divisional structure, uocoming nations have a better chance (and money) to improve.

People can keep lamenting about the past but IMO cricket as a sport is generally thriving except for struggles of the traditional formats in some cases.

 

[Rana]

Comments inside quote

I think the definition of superstar for me is the player being a top draw/brand in the game. These names I mentioned are the type that would get fans excited for watching cricket.

 

[rhony]

The real interest and money is in India. Slowly you will see cricket going the way of basketball, football, baseball. Private leagues will control the game with international games during world cups etc. The interest has dwindled outside of Asia and the decline has been gradual with the Caribbean being the first casuality.

In a decade I see IPL being played 6 months a year with multiple formats and 30 teams, a variety of pitches with 2 groups. India is the only country with the breadth, money and appeal to support such a league and variety.

 

[Robert]

If England are winning in a sport with ever dwindling crowds and less media coverage while having less household names, does it still feel like an achievement? I would want my team to win but in a healthy competition where the people running it are doing more to encourage people to watch and make the format fun. Part of the problem in the UK is that cricket is now behind a pay wall, so automatically it excludes a lot of existing fans from even catching a game on TV never mind encourage new fans to gain an interest in cricket.
There's not a lot going for test cricket right now to keep it's audience, too many similar pitches resulting in predictable results, very few players with huge personalities and charisma to attract crowds to the stadium and then the ECB sell TV rights to Sky and put the highlights on Channel 5 so even less people have access to watch it.

Yes. I thought India would beat England in our summer. I thought SL would whitewash us. These are great victories won with few outstanding players - no Gooch, Gower, Botham, KP. The matches are tactically fascinating and the human drama as absorbing as ever.

 

[shah_1]

Isn't he right?


Compare todays Pakistan team with team that had Younis Khan, Yousuf, Razzaq, Shoaib, Asif, Afridi, Inzamam in the line up. Our batting looks lost without Misbah and Younis in Test cricket.

You can also compare Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, and even India with their olders team(10 to 15 years old). All teams have regressed. The only teams that have improved over the years is New Zealand, England and Bangladesh. India bowling might be better these days but thats debatable

 

[BaankeJi]

Stars will come out of these players only. Just wait.

 

[slipcatch]

Cricket is suffering because cricket is being played for money not for what it is.

Cricket is the only support that require every team to play against each other, can't be selective.

 

[The Viper]

Wouldn't class Bravo as a star.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Pace bowling has definitely suffered. The 90s had a whole host of fierce fast bowlers, a few capable of averaging 90 mph. No pace bowler even comes close nowadays.

The thrill of watching freaks like Lee, Akhtar, Bond and even Tait in full flow, is completely dead. Tear-aways like Waqar and Donald before these four were also a sight to behold.

 

[gazza619]

Are the T20 leagues to be blamed?

 

[rhony]

Yes. I thought India would beat England in our summer. I thought SL would whitewash us. These are great victories won with few outstanding players - no Gooch, Gower, Botham, KP. The matches are tactically fascinating and the human drama as absorbing as ever.

True. Except for the Lord's test where India were bundled out, all the tests this summer have been fantastic. Eng vs NZ, Eng vs Pak, Eng vs Ind and Eng vs SL. Close fought games

 

[Aman]

He's right, outside Kohli I don't think there is anyone else.

 

[Hasan123]

I think he is on about in terms of personality rather than ability. I think the modern game still has a lot of talent.

 

[Robert]

You can also compare Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, and even India with their olders team(10 to 15 years old). All teams have regressed. The only teams that have improved over the years is New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.

I don’t think current England are better than the side of 2000-2005. Root might get in to that side, maybe Moeen for Giles.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

The real interest and money is in India. Slowly you will see cricket going the way of basketball, football, baseball. Private leagues will control the game with international games during world cups etc. The interest has dwindled outside of Asia and the decline has been gradual with the Caribbean being the first casuality.

In a decade I see IPL being played 6 months a year with multiple formats and 30 teams, a variety of pitches with 2 groups. India is the only country with the breadth, money and appeal to support such a league and variety.

Nopes in a decade we are more indulge in football. 1st we are crazy about hockey now cricket and in future football.

 

[the Great Khan]

Who’s stopping Pakistan having super stars? Fact is they are all mediocre and have no popularity and weight in the big stage.

who's stopping us? ten years of war and a boycott imposed by your country on ours which has had a detrimental effect on our limited overs games, thus limiting the exposure of our players due to a lack of domestic international matches.

 

[Kianig89]

Agreeing with Kevin Pietersen , world cricket lacks superstars , now a days player like Rizwan averages 42 with SR 88, and Imam ul Haq touching 50.

However players like KP , Lara, Sangakarra were a different breed

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Few years ago some fans used to say that the IPL would create superstars, just like football leagues around the world. However, that expectation has clearly fallen flat.

The reality is that the IPL relies on superstars to thrive, it doesn't create them.

 

[sweep_shot]

Indeed.

You know things are bad when T20 hacks are glorified as if they are same as Viv Richards or Ricky Ponting.