I’m aware not everyone is going to be able to get to a TV or radio today, so the idea is to post and update as it happens. Lots of refreshing of the page will be required I’m afraid, we’re not at BBC levels of automatic updates just yet!
10:38 – Sky have just had Atherton and Hussain previewing it, with Atherton describing the ECB as having led Pietersen up the garden path.
10:49 – how’s your blood pressure?
10:50 – we’ve had a chorus of former players and captains absolutely outraged so far. To me it seems the rage is far higher than it was with the original sacking. Though Ed Smith of course believes social media and the public are not just different things, but on a Venn diagram don’t actually coincide at all.
10:53 – of course Strauss will be talking about some other items today as well, and we’re supposedly due to hear from Colin Graves, who will have a lot to answer for. Let’s be honest, it’s one subject that’s going to dominate.
11:02 – here we go
11:03 – Strauss “massive trust issue between Kevin and I”
11:04 – “not part of our plans for this summer, can’t say about the future”
11:04 – “can’t have a situation where there’s no trust. If there’s a way to build trust let’s look at it”
11:05 – “trust is absolutely imperative. It’s a board decision. My job now is to look to the future”
11:06 – Note that he throws it all on Pietersen. No mention that the ECB ought to do something about it.
11:08 – wonder if calling him a bad name live on air has something to do with that trust
11:09 – full backing for Alastair Cook for this summer.
11:10 – will look at the selection structure.
11:11 – Joe Root to be vice captain of the Test team.
11:11 – “far more separation between the Test and One Day teams”
11:12 – Kevin Pietersen is now on 347*
11:13 – blah, blah, blah. This is not a terribly impressive performance.
11:13 – and that is that. The press conference is to come.
11:13 – oops missed out that Jason Gillespie is in the running for England coach, be interesting to see if he wants it.
11:17 – quite remarkable that Strauss actually comes out and confirms that the problem with Pietersen is a personal issue.
11:18 – they have a bloody cheek talking about trust. No one trusts the ECB. Oh and Pietersen passes 350.
11:22 – Harrison speaks now. Says it’s an ECB position and that Colin Graves agrees.
11:23 – Harrison comes up with the usual guff about moving forward. Ignores the question about Pietersen being led up the garden path.
11:25 – And Surrey are all out. Pietersen selfishly red inks a 355*
Ha, you have to be kidding Strauss!
11:49 Not sure if we’ll get to see coverage of the press conference or not. I’ll try and keep abreast of it.
Looks like we won’t get to see that though. So it may be Twitter updates as they come in.
12:18 – apparently Sky will be running an interview with Strauss from Atherton and Hussain shortly.
12:43 – Hussain telling Strauss trust goes both ways.
12:46 – this is a whole load of blather, it really is.
12:47 – it’s quite extraordinary how Strauss talks about trust and that asking him to be an advisor is part of that, yet ignores the trust issue of the chairman telling Pietersen that if he scores runs he can’t be ignored.
12:53 – Well that interview told us nothing at all. If there was one thing I thought Strauss might to better, it was to actually come up with a rationale for exclusion. He failed. Miserably.
It’s quite astonishing actually – the disdain from professional sportsmen is almost universal.
Bob Willis: “I don’t often feel sorry for Kevin Pietersen but having been told by the chairman-elect to go and score runs in the County Championship if he wants to get back in the England side, Kevin’s been sent on a wild goose chase.
It’s another case of the ECB shooting themselves in the foot. After the appalling way the Peter Moores sacking was handled, that he was the last to know, I think this is another faux pas by the ECB and they need to get their act together.”
13:09 – seems that’s more or less it for the moment. Doubtless more will come out across the day and I’ll update as and when. But for now, hope it was of some use to you all.
The Downfall thing has been done many a time. But OK, this one is funny
13:33 – first response from the written press to their press conference:
Ryan Harris chimes in: “I know that Strauss and him probably don’t get on, (but) I’m not going to believe it until we get over there and they pick their squad. He’s just peeled off a triple-hundred. If he keeps going on and playing for Surrey – he may quit now – but if he keeps going and scoring hundred after hundred there’s going to be a lot of pressure to pick him. Although it has been said by the new cricket director, I’m not going to believe it until we play five Tests and Kevin Pietersen doesn’t play. If he keeps scoring runs the way he is it’s going to be very hard not to pick him.”
Alec Stewart speaks:
And boy is he not happy. He’s not happy at all.
15:39 – I’ve just seen Dominic Cork try and say we don’t know what Colin Graves said. Well Dominic, here you go – irrespective of what was said privately, this was entirely public and is a direct quote:
“It is very simple. What happened in the past is history and there is no point talking about it, I was deputy chairman when the decision was made [to sack Pietersen] and I supported it so there is no point pulling that to bits. But if he wants to play for England then he has to play for a county. That is his decision.
“If he does that and then comes out and scores a lot of runs they can’t ignore him I would have thought but that is up to him. You can’t pick someone when he is not playing.”
“Forget personalities. Selectors pick the best players in form, taking wickets and scoring runs. That is their job.”
16:10 – Interesting interview with Alec Stewart on Sky right now, directly addressing the point about what he would have done had he got the DC job. He said he would want to pick from the best players available, and if that included Pietersen so be it. His implication was fairly obvious that that wasn’t acceptable to the ECB.
Let’s think about that for a second. A prospective Director of Cricket isn’t considered because he wants to pick the best players available. Let’s think about that again. Jesus.
18:03 – Kevin Pietersen article on the Daily Telegraph is imminent…
19:01 – Perhaps not so imminent. I’m out for an unavoidable birthday tonight, so this will be it from me for now. No doubt when the article is published there’ll be a whole lot more to come, and I’ll come back to it in the morning with a longer piece. Comments are of course open as ever. It’s the first time we’ve tried a live blog on events across a day, so let us know if (even given the subject matter) it’s been useful for you, and we can do it again. We could even do it for a Test match perhaps!
Being Outside Cricket 
One of my plans this summer was/is to watch the 2005 Ashes unfold, via the miracle of DVD, on the tenth anniversary of each day’s play. Hey, it’ll only be half an hour a day.
Only the f**king ECB could make even that a bittersweet, occasionally bile-inducing, rather than rapturous experience.
C**ts.
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The Guardian’s liveblog is mostly about Piers Morgan. What a shocker.
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First question to Strauss: ‘The ECB backed the wrong horse in 2014 didn’t it?’
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I have Sky Sports News. But I’m flagging. Really excessively tired.
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Second question: ‘Can you confirm that you stabbed Kevin Pietersen in the back in 2009 in order to attain the captaincy? Et tu Straussy?
Third question, what does the comma stand for?
Andrew Strauss, absolute ****?
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Interviewed first. Lord almighty.
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As the very wise and wonderful Leo McGarry once said:
“The process matters more than the outcome, and here endeth the lesson.”
Very few of us expected the outcome to be any different. However the process is, for the umpteenth time, a total disgrace.
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Terminator 2: This Time It’s Personal.
I think that pretty much covers it so far, yes?
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andrew strauss is a CUNT
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I don’t understand what it is that they don’t trust him to do.
Not fuck other players’ wives?
Not steal other players’ equipment?
Not take catches on purpose?
Not to go and bat left handed for a laugh?
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Not bat any better than Alastair Cook.
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He speaks with forked tongue
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So – one coach for Test and ODI team – no improvement there.
“Candidates for the coaching job will be approached soon…”
Let me guess, there’s a shortlist of Vaughan, Stewart and Farbace?
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Jason Gillespie on list too.
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They say that, but do they mean it? If we look at all the people who were “on the list” last time, how did we end up with Moores?
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“Alastair Cook has my full backing to lead the side into the Ashes this summer … the team needs his leadership.”
It’s worse than we thought, isn’t it?
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Twice he has said “this summer”. KP not in plans for this summer. And Cookeee full backing for this summer. Do I have false hope there ?
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Joe Root vice captain
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Bell was v/c previously so he has been sacked from that role.
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Anybody told him?
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Brooks sneaks a wicket to deny Rashid a 5-for… but still, I think a solid performance from the England reject there.
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Barney Ronay gets it right on Twitter (you can tell he isn’t a cricket journo):
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay)
May 12, 2015
My fear is not many people will actually care about your own unresolved feelings of hurt and betrayal, Straussy old bean
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He still isn’t over text-gate. Nice that. Actually makes him worse than Alastair Cook.
That was deeply uinmpressive.
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And what the F does ‘trust’ mean? Strauss has always said this on Sky “Oh, well, there’s no trust there..” What exactly was this wonderful ‘trust’ and what exactly destroyed ‘trust’ – a couple of text messages? Really? Are you a grown man?
I’d have thought being unfairly sacked would pretty much destroy some trust as well, but you know what, he came back and tried again.
You don’t seem to have that courage or that generosity, Andrew Strauss. You’re stuck in your trustless world, how sad. But no doubt you and Cooky can hold each other’s hand.
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I’m sure KP trusted Strauss in 2009. The difference is, he got over it.
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Strauss, you’ve been in the job 30 seconds and you’ve already been part of an incredibly shabby sacking of a coach and the hilariously poorly timed door-slamming of one of the greatest batsmen we’ve ever had.
You need to earn that trust. And the ECB has a rap sheet longer than KP’s list of international centuries.
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One of the main arguments against Strauss’ appointment was the suspicion that he’d be unable to distinguish the personal from the professional. I don’t think anyone thought he’d actually play it up. Utterly unprofessional – what planet is ho on? This is not the time to play the martyr.
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Just seen comments from Tom Harrison. That’s it. I’ve had enough. Even further outside cricket.
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So Kevin Pietersen is now effectively blamed for 5 years of leaks AGAINST him by the ECB. Classy as ever.
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It’s time to take an open and honest approach to Kevin Pietersen. Good. Tell us why he was sacked. The full details.
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I’ll try….
1) KP was sacked because of lack of Trust
2) There is no Trust because of KP’s Book
3) KP wrote the Book because he was sacked
4) KP was sacked because …
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Missed the press conference (BBC couldn’t even get the time right).
Worth revisiting what Graves said:
““It is very simple. What happened in the past is history and there is no point talking about it…. if he wants to play for England then he has to play for a county. That is his decision. If he does that and then comes out and scores a lot of runs they can’t ignore him I would have thought but that is up to him”.
He then added:
“Forget personalities. Selectors pick the best players in form, taking wickets and scoring runs. That is their job.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevinpietersen/11442941/Kevin-Pietersen-could-make-England-return-says-ECB-chairman.html
Square that with what Strauss said. The past isn’t past. They haven’t forgotten personalities.
Piers Morgan on R5 saying where is Graves and he knows what Graves said to Pietersen behind the scenes and it isn’t this. Chiles trying to butt in without much success – does make it clear they’ll start blaming Pietersen if he doesn’t carry on playing for Surrey.
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In Pietersen’s DT article he says Harrison claimed Graves had been misinterpreted by the media. I can just about see how you could argue that about the radio interview he gave.
How the hell could he argue that about what I’ve just quoted from the DT?
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Total failure as usual by the press. No hard questions asked.
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Neither of Strauss, nor of Harrison.
How was Strauss picked? Who else was on the list?
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So he had enough trust to offer KP a role advising the one day side. So it’s clear where the trust issue lies.
Cook.
You idiot Strauss.
It is, quite literally, a carbon copy of Downton’s mistakes.
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According to Paul Kelso, KP was offered an advisory role for the ODI team. This just gets better and better.
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It’s been confirmed that Pietersen was offered a one-day advisor role (like Tom Collomosse said) and has turned it down.
If he is such an untrustworthy scumbag how could he be offered such a role?
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I thought this idiot couldn’t be any more dense.
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You keep underestimating DP at your own peril.
He is at the top of the list. or bottom, depending upon which side you started looking from.
No wonder, he can’t find another paper to write for.
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But Simon Hughes gave him a massive spread in The Cricketer. There you go.
11 out of 17!
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Think of some of the usual suspects who have been strangely quiet since last night.
The joy there is going to be when they appear and start dancing on KP’s grave. That moment can’t be far off.
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Some of the most genuinely arrogant, horrible, pompous people in cricket. Sickens me how much this makes them happy, and how much crowing there will be.
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So, there were trust issues, but apparently KP was offered a role as an advisor in LOI – cricket?
Yeah, that is sensible.
If there is ever a writer who needs to study willful idiocy, he could do no better than studying the ECB.
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Bit surprised Eoin Morgan has retained the ODI captaincy.
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Well, you can’t drop the ODI captain on form – else what might happen to the Test captain?
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I wasn’t expressing an opinion about Morgan of course – just that Root getting the role had been widely tipped.
Strauss reportedly said that it was unfair to judge Morgan just on the WC. Yet that must be in large part why they sacked Moores.
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and
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Strauss is permanently excluding a capable batsman to protect a weak captain’s weak captaincy. Just like his predecessor.
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There’s a lot of expletive laden swearing that i was about to post to the ECB on twitter. It has taken a lot of deep breathing to let it go as this was always on cards with Andrew Strauss in charge.
The man hasn’t got over his petty issues with KP. It is clear who has Trust issues in life.
KP still trusted ECB despite being screwed over again and again.
I hope England lose all games this summer cos they sure as hell don’t deserve to win after being such backstabbing SOBs.
Shameful, but i know what side i am rooting for – everyone but England.
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Dobell’s tip that the Test and ODI coaching roles will be split hasn’t come to pass. Perhaps they can only get one candidate?
Also the selection procedure is to remain unchanged this summer and then be reviewed. I suppose technically Whitaker could still be removed but it sounds unlikely.
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on espn blog
There is no trust between the fans and ECB. Therefore the fans are not part of England’s plans either this summer.
by Srini 11:39 AM↑1
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I didn’t watch it live. Just picked up on what you have on here. Good God, it’s even worse than I thought. Downton couldn’t have done a more incomoetent job. Where do they get these people from? Is there a garden centre down in Kent that grows them fully formed with an ECB tie on?
We can assume that Cook, and maybe Flower have said KP comes back we are off. Total backing for Cook for the summer? Nobody rewards failure like the ECB if you have the right face.
Shocking! Just when you think they can’t get any lower they drop another 3 levels.
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Not in Kent – Middlesex…
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ha!
Englands new batting stars Trust & Building
What a lovely cover drive from Trust. Text book MCC coaching manual. And a cut shot from Building. 4 runs there!
Trust calls for the quick single, and Building moves like er, well a building. Run out by a 2 yards. No Trust there then.
Oh dear, Trust and Building have a few words mid pitch. But Building has to go. He just has to go.
All up to Trust to now to see England home.
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I really wonder what Gillespie is thinking at the moment.
On the one hand, he has a family, so a stint on the ECB wage could be good.
On another hand, who would want to work in this setup right now?
(I think it’s worth asking, who else is blackballed by Cook? Monty? Rashid?)
Besides, England’s bowling is fragile, this is going to be a rough summer for whoever becomes coach.
And anyway, maybe his heart is with Australia – does he really want to coach England in the Ashes?
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I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole if I was him. Also as he is not English the ECB and their moronic fans don’t like foreigners that fail.
Why would anyone want to work for these snake oil salesman?
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So let’s be clear, candidates for coach will be presented with – for brevity’s sake – a list of players who are actually selectable and then asked if he fancied coaching that? I don’t think they can pay enough. It’s not just the integrity issue but you make yourself unemployable by anyone else. Only an ECB stooge will take that poisoned chalice.
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It has been suggested that despite being no trust between Pietersen and the ECB that strauss suggested an advisory role for the O/D team to KP – this just highlights the nonsense – if you don’t trust someone why offer what appears to be a compensatory role to them????? The notion of trust isn’t a moveable feast is it – or just for the ECB????? Strauss OUT NOW
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Pringle, you absolute bell-end.
I know some of the media guys do read this occasionally and in case any of you are still wondering why we get angry at journos, it’s crap like this that’s the icing on a very shitty cake.
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So, we can forget about JG as a coach. Farbrace it will be.
and, we can also forget about England improving in the short run. I expect jimmy to breakdown soon given he’s gonna have to bowl a lot this summer as Aussies pile on. And, his own batsmen won’t keep him rested for long either. It should be a massacre.
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Oddly enough, from what I’ve seen of Farbace, he is a good enough coach to improve England in the short term. Still, it’s hard to see how it all comes together well for him this summer.
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Trust??? Trussed up by the turkeys of the ECB more like! -That’s us as well as KP
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Strauss with Agnew on R5:
Starts with Moores – says it was a tough call but lacking in the strategy and tactics department.
Pietersen – “now’s the time to be really open and honest” (so they weren’t before). “People have been running away from it for years” (but he won’t say who or apportion blame). Trust again – presenting it more as a board decision. Claims no player has long-term guarantees (how disingenuous is that?). Agnew seems to start blaming Graves for “moving the goalposts”. Strauss waffles. Strauss says they talked for 40 mins yesterday and Pietersen “wasn’t happy”. Agnew asks if it is personal. Strauss denies they ever got on as badly as they think. Says conversation last night was “civil”. Think he just said there were lawyers in the room but not sure. Agnew pressing him to rule out any return. Reply just waffle. “Are our Ashes chances increased?” asks Agnew. “I think we have a very good chance” the reply.
Coach – Strauss says he won’t be in the dressing room. How will you attract people given IPL (not ECB’s behaviour) asks Agnew. “One of top two jobs in the world” says Strauss. He wants appointment before Ashes.
How are you going to win people around? “I didn’t take this job to be popular”. Then says by playing good cricket.
Agnew afterwards says Strauss “flanneled” around the issue of trust and didn’t give any examples. He says they can’t rule out a return forever for legal reasons. Agnew’s tone mainly one of sadness but getting faintly angry when talking about Graves moving the goalposts. Conclusion: “there is no doubt Kevin Pietersen will not play for England again”.
It will be posted as a podcast later.
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Judging by his response to the Moores question I can only assume Strauss is a vile ignoramus as ’twas he who sacked him.
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Graeme Smith @GraemeSmith49 tweets: “I see the head boy is making English cricket the laughing stock again! #StraussLogic.”
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Smith gets this one right about Strauss. Again.
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No coach can fill in for the idiot leading them on the field…
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What’s KP’s CC average now this year?
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http://stats.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2015/engine/records/batting/highest_career_batting_average.html?class=4;host=1;id=2015;type=season
233.50.
If we stipulate a minimum of 4 innings, he is ever so slightly ahead of Northants’ Crook (112.50).
Steven Davies is next with 102.67. Probably not selectable on the grounds of sexual orientation (not a problem to me, but given the clique and macho culture that seems to be dominating in Cook’s Waitrose XI, …
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Outside cricket, although funnily enough he only seems to be concerned with cricketing issues rather than nebulous concepts.
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I think about 250, give or take
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and Captain Cook will lead us to new shores.
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So, Captain Cook will lead us to new shores.
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Well, Captain Cook might be the first Englishman to discover England in the 21st century …
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Of course trust must be a big issue for the ECB. They themselves are extremely trustworthy. They can certainly be trusted to make a complete pigs ear of everything they touch. They constantly plumb the very depths of ineptitude
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Well said Alan. One supposes that Allan Stanford (now serving 100yrs plus sentence) is someone the ECB can trust.
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If the media were the slightest bit concerned with fans, he would never live this down:
“Agnew pushed him to clarify exactly what the “trust issues” with Pietersen are but Strauss declined. “A number of issues over a long period of time. I don’t need to spell them out for you Aggers, you’ve been there all the way through it.””
As John Ashdown then puts it:
“Would have been nice if when Strauss said “I don’t need to spell them out for you Aggers”, Agnew had responded with “Well, can you spell them out for the listeners at home then?””
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Last night the well known moral philosopher Simon Hughes informed us that what KP had done to Strauss was akin to cheating on your wife.
It appears today cheating on your wife is no biggie if you want an advisory role in the ECB ODI team.
Next week Hughes will look at alchemy and how you can pull shit of your arse and turn it into gold.
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Wonder what taking Krugerrands is then? Good financial foresight in the cases of Gooch and Gatting?
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None of that will happen.
Next week onward, these guys will be busy talking about the “new era” under Strauss and singing from the ECB hymn sheet.
Aggers let him go easily. Most others in MSM will as well. Despite the KP rant on air, Andrew still carried a bit of aura around him as a successful skipper. That will diminish now. Certainly with a lot of supporters who thought he was above the politics.
And they couldn’t have spiked the Ashes any more. As England will get hammered, the clamor for changes will be loud again. What are the odds on Cook surviving the the summer if the same results persist?
“Need his leadership? No fucking way!
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that interview was on behalf of Waitrose…
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An old favourite, not heard for a while:
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England, Comma, Broken.
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End ecb corruption
#boycottecb
#doageoffrey
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Until ecb selects the best team to win matches do not give them your money
Money is power
#boycottecb
#doageoffrey
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No honey
No money
Let’s all #doageoffrey
Let’s all #doageoffrey
#boycottecb
#doageoffrey
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well done andrew. you’ve just created a meme.
https://twitter.com/Boss_Burgers/status/598079509636714496/photo/1
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Fucking ECB, one step forwards, three back.
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Aussie slang for puking is “liquid laugh”. That’s pretty much my response to all this. (Come to think of it, “technicolor yawn” sums up feelings for Cook too.)
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we need to talk about Cook ……….. and Flower ………..strauss is a non-entity
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That English sporting mentality in full:
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Arron, they hate his guts,and like this moron they really, really believe England would have done better without him. You can’t argue with people like this. They are idiots. They really think if KP had not played at the Oval in 2005 and scored 150 England would still have got the draw to secure the ashes.
These are just the sort of muppets the ECB want as fans. When you’re that stupid it so easy to pull the wool over your eyes and flog you merchandise.
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Yeah. It is all about ego.
That is why a captain who humbly and constantly nicks it to the slips will never be dropped.
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Apologies to the host for posting this here and not on the Gu, but — thanks a lot Pep, those idiots deserve a ding on the head! hahahahahaha
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/may/12/kevin-pietersen-england-axing-australian-view
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Strauss trotting out the did well against India line.
I’m starting to feel sorry for Downton. He’s been replaced by someone saying and doing EXACTLY the same things he did.
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Cook did well in India? Funny you mention that Strauss.
You know who else did well?
KP.
Monty Panesar.
And Compton had a reasonable debut series, considering the challenging nature of opening in India. And neither of these three look likely to ever represent England again.
Great management, ECB.
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He’ll mean the Test series v India last summer, I suspect. Literally all they can cling to (and imo massively deceiving).
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sorry – it was in the agnew interview. He was asked about our chances for the Ashes and replied that he was optimistic, and mentioned how England do well at home and last summer’s result against India.
largely forgetting just quite how awful India were, that we lost to Sri Lanka, and that we just lost our last test match to the West Indies.
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Once again people are laughing at the ECB and the England team.
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This is a bunch of suits closing ranks when they can’t win an argument through logic.
“It is, because we said so, whether you like it or not”. The only way to get out of this mess, is to really clean up from scratch and also extend that to their ego boosters in MSM.
Oh I forgot, we just had a new boss. Shit!
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I’d love someone – Mr Booth? to interview Sanga on how all this looks from inside cricket, but outside English Cricket.
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Graeme Smith is right. Strauss has indeed made English cricket administration look like absolute joke. A sick one though.
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If Sanga was Scottish and less of a gentleman that tweet would end “away tae fuck”
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Isn’t now the right time for the England captain to stick his head above the parapet and give us his view or if he would prefer get Matt Pryor to do his talking.
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Er, um, er, shuffle, look at shoes, Er, um, shuffle.
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Nah, that would make him look disengaged 😉
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Same as when Downton began, I don’t believe for a moment that Moores and KP were Strauss’s decisions – they were part of the job description on offer. Strauss was the only candidate who could present this trust excuse in public with a straight face
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I nominated Andy Bull for LCL’s Ten but seem to be alone in finding him infuriating. The Spin again seems evasive, craven and full of snide little digs at Pietersen (like how few 50s he scored last year when he bats in the middle order in T20 so isn’t going to score many 50s – or stressing every false shot at the start of Pietersen’s innings). The whole thing reads like an obituary.
I probably wouldn’t be so fed up if the Guardian’s ECB fanboys didn’t keep saying, well, you might not like the great Selvey but you have Andy Bull.
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Think you’re being unfair. KP’s struggles at the start of the day don’t diminish his innings, they give context to it – as with the other wickets falling around him.
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I don’t know, I got quite the reverse opinion from this week’s Spin actually. The last two paragraphs are very well written.
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I’m keeping the updates going chaps. There’s a few interesting items over the last hour or so – Stewart’s interview is utterly damning.
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Stewart is still being nice. KP has the right to be absolutely pissed and to make it known to them. Misleading him was not needed except for some perverse pleasure. KP will be well within his rights to tell them to sod off should a crisis emerge this summer.
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@TLG
Indeed, very interesting words from Stewart.
I’d like to see someone ask him about the Strauss role and if he was actually given any details about it.
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Bob Dylan’s view on Strauss is:
“You’re an idiot babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe”
utter contempt for Strauss and Graves (should go bury himself!)
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I am more angry with Graves. He as good as promised KP and now Strauss says there is no trust. What a pair of complete idiots they look an indeed are. One Australian said on Twitter that come the Ashes the sledging will be horrendous. I think we all know who they will aim the worst of it at?
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Oh I do hope so
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Has anyone seen Newman or Pringle dance naked in the square today? They are about the only people who could pull it off.
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Newman had quite a neutral piece for the most part. Suppressing the glee he no doubt feels. He dealt with what was said, rather than inject his poison.
Except for this
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He’s such a moron.
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I really shouldn’t look at Pringle’s Twitter stuff . It’s bad for my blood pressure What a sour,vindictive old hack he is.
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When is Graves going to make an appearance?
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Why should he? Far better to let Strauss take the flak.
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He’s not in post yet.
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I am slightly confused. I assume the ‘he’s not in our plans for the summer’ allows the new coach (whoever that may be) to pick him if he wants?
The new coach will presumably not be Mr Flower, therefore as any fool could tell you, KP is in the best England Test XI (however you configure it), are they going to ridiculously hamstring the next coach?
I can’t really see Gillespie, Moody, or any other international calibre coach just accepting that the ECB board picks who can and can’t play?
I think this is Giles Clarke’s last action, but when the new coach is hired it will be goodbye to Cooke as captain, hello KP to the middle order. Mr Strauss will remarkably manage to work through his trust issues with KP (although I think Mr Strauss is actually speaking on behalf of Mr Cooke, who can’t trust KP not to laugh at his captaincy).
Either that or we are going to get a more ordinary coach than Moores who allows others to make decisions for him.
Probably the latter but hope springs eternal.
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The coach is going to end up being Farbrace unless he absolutely fluffs the audition and England are annihilated by NZ.
Has there been any mention anywhere about whether Strauss will continue Downton’s practice of attending selection meetings?
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Strauss (comma) won’t have time for selection meetings, he’ll leave that to Sheep…. Strauss (comma) too busy with his long term vision for 2019… which will be leaked around 19:45 due to lack of trust…
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Should’ve checked the Standard first – Tom Collomosse says he will attend selection meetings.
Collomosse has a second article which is defintely ‘outside cricket’ on Cook:
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/cricket/lets-hope-strauss-isnt-just-protecting-his-former-opening-partner-cook-10244446.html
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England should be in a good spot to at least draw (if not win) the first Test, given the minimal red ball warm up some of the Kiwis will have coming in from the IPL.
So, Farbace it is then.
@TLG – this is what I’ve been most struck by – the implications are that we go around choosing coaches because they’ll toe the line on not picking KP. How does that even make sense?
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Collomosse has an interesting choice of word – the ECB being ‘bewitched’ by Cook’s ability.
I’m coming to the conclusion they’re all Sc**nt*l*g*sts and Cook is a Thetan. Or else it’s funny handshake time and he’s something super at the Lodge.
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According to Atherton in the Times, Strauss confirmed that Farbrace is viewed as a number 2 and will remain as such.
This seems to suggest that we will have a new coach (or another old one returning).
I would like to think a new coach would be able to pick their own XI and squad (or at least have an input) and anyone not from the ECB will sack Cook as captain
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The coach is only one of four selectors (?), so it’s not really possible for the coach to simply select whomever he wants. As ‘Director, English Cricket’, Strauss will, presumably, have a major input into squad selection.
The not-in-our-plans-for-the-summer line seems to be a cheap (perhaps even mean-spirited) attempt to make KP appear to blame for his predicament, should he now honour his existing IPL contract. It is akin to the ludicrous offer of an ‘advisory’ role, which Mr Pringle has already seized upon as evidence that KP isn’t serious about England – notwithstanding his foregoing of at least a portion of his IPL contract and the whole of his salary from Surrey CCC!
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The ECB have released these today. Paxman-esque the questioning isn’t.
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On the bright side, Strauss successfully did not mention that big Iron Rod.
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I note that Tom Harrison said almost exactly the same thing that Downton said when he started. Boy they do all need a new script writer.
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ECB Twitter account telling people they only block for abusive language.
Like “cunt”, presumably.
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Brilliant from Mike Walters:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricket/sacrificing-kevin-pietersen-name-future-5685606
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Second superb article from the DM (Dave Kidd):
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricket/andrew-strausss-kevin-pietersen-snub-5685913
Especially good on Strauss’s contradictions.
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Does anyone think the (sham) ODI advisor role was a mere financial compromise to offset the losses suffered in reliance of Graves’ misrepresentations?
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Newman’s piece has appeared. Go on if you dare…..
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Wasn’t that bad. He’s entitled to an opinion on whether the decision was correct, and he doesn’t go on and on about it. However, his “we had to read between the lines” part was a touch disingenuous. Much easier to do that when the book has been shown to you already.
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Good George is back:
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Tweet of the day:
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Corker.
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Curiosity as much as anything else – did the live blog format work for you?
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Yes, thanks for the live blog and well done!
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Great coverage. And mixed in with a selection of tweets.
Best bit I didn’t have to listen to the Strauss voice. And won’t have to now as he is no longer a commentator on Sky.
Every cloud…..
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Yes very good thanks Vian!
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Yes, I’m following the action from Finland and it was great. Chapeau, sir.
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Well you have to give them credit; that was even worse than I thought it would be. Big tick in the exceeds expectations box there.
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🙂
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Priceless listening to Phil Tufnell on 5 live who clearly doesn’t want KP in the team giving lectures on team unity.
Agnew going on again about text gate. No mention about KP genius.
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As I am going to Edgbaston for the 3rd Test in the Ashes I fully expect to see KP recalled.
After another dispiriting drawn series v NZ, and 0-2 down after an innings defeat at Cardiff, and our customary loss at Lords (twice since 1934 I fully expect regression to the mean), the clamour will be enormous.
I hope that this doesn’t happen because regardless of the ECB and their slavish commitment to ‘the cult of Cook’ I want England to win every Test match they play.
If they wish to proceed without KP that is their prerogative but their continued malfeasance towards their ‘stakeholders’ (us lot outside cricket) and their staff (as even Downton can feel aggrieved that he was made redundant and then a few weeks later a suspiciously similar role is created) is unedifying.
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KP’s piece is up. Let’s say, the ECB do not come out of it well. No surprise there…. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevinpietersen/11600580/Kevin-Pietersen-My-fury-at-England-deceit.html
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Wow, so I am wrong, I can go to Edgbaston and watch England lose the Ashes…
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Can we just confirm then, that Alastair Cook can publically criticize the incoming joke chairman of the ECB – yes, you Graves – and nothing be said or done about it by the ECB – the sheer hypocisy of this organisation is breathtaking – this is a better and more long lasting comedy than anything Broadway or Bill Kenwright could come up with – hope everyone returns their tickets and nobody goes to the New Zealand tests – for starters …………… what are the odds of Strauss lasting a week?
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Wow, Mark Chapman just read out KPs latest column on 5 live. Read it if you can. Tom Harrison sounds like a right c**t. Apparently Strauss and the team have been told they can lose the Ashes with no consequences. This is not the national team. This is a joke outfit of yeas men.
And Agnew is now blaming us outsiders for not supporting the team. This is hurting the players because they think the Fans don’t like the team he says.
So it’s all our fault. As it always is.
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I’ll listen to all of this as podcasts etc. tonight. But I read the piece. Harrison is the one in my blogging cross-hairs. Another empty suit.
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Watch your blood pressure Dmitri.
Vaughns bit about his interview with Harrison is interesting and Why he turned the job down. He thinks Struass is the right man for this role because it’s a desk job. Dammed with faint praise. No he thinks Strauss will turn English cricket around.
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I only heard the end of Agnew, but he seemed to strike a conciliatory note as he signed off suggesting he understood why those ‘outsiders’ were unhappy with the team and it’s ‘ordinary performances’.
I think there is some recognition by him that ‘royally shafted’ is an understatement regarding KP’s recent treatment
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The MSM are starting to get it a little bit. Only a little bit, but it’s a start.
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Here’s the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevinpietersen/11600580/Kevin-Pietersen-My-fury-at-England-deceit.html
Not much on Strauss but damning on Harrison and Graves.
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“This is hurting the players because they think the Fans don’t like the team he says”
Good, coz I hate them all now. Well, not Moeen, as he’ll be the first one shafted to the point of exclusion.
I hate the backroom staff, Flower, Graves, Harrison, Strausseeeeee, the selectors. I still hate that speak-yer-weight automaton Moores, that soulless Downton thing, and Goochie and his bloody dog ball throwing tool. I hate the press. I hate TMS. I hate Sky. I hate the effing lot of them. I hate them so much I am actually loving teams like NZ all the more, for the sheer joy they seem to derive from cricket.
How is this shower ever going to bring that joy back? Maybe it’s at the bottom of an overpriced pint of hot weak lager.
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I can’t believe I forgot to mention Cook. Yeah, I really hate him AND his stupid second half of a sentence voice.
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It will be interesting to see next year’s ECB review and learn how much it cost to sever the contracts of Downton and Moores. perhaps they might have to lose some of the 40 coaches they employ.
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KP off to India at request of Sunrisers Hydrabad – Strauss on his way to hell with the ECB
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Imagine trying this rebuilding thing where you work – giving yourself licence to be completely crap and achieve nothing for a year, but keeping on saying that it doesn’t matter because you’re rebuilding for four years’ time.
And of course, should you survive for the four years you will then be rebuilding for something else in another few years.
Except that you wouldn’t survive.
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exactly, in a country where workfare and benefit sanctions are and don’t forget, this is not just about Pietersen the new employment model, it’s a joke, here’s Pietersen’s comment:
I am angry and hurt but right now there is nothing I can do about it. Strauss will be judged on his results. Yet I have heard from two very good sources that results do not matter this summer anyway. The job description for the director of cricket job is focused on longer-term goals.
But if Strauss has been told he does not have to win this summer then why should the players train and work hard? In essence, quite incredibly, they have all been given permission to lose the Ashes. I have never heard that before. It is not in my make-up and I know it is not in the make-up of the English public either. Especially for those who have paid a lot of money for tickets.
don’t go to watch the games, sell your tickets, throw them in the bin, it’s the only power you have and don’t forget, this is not just about Pietersen it’s about how the ECB view it’s increasing numbers of billious inadequates
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I’m sorry, my typing/ editing is a mile behind my thought process today
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And we saw how well it worked at the World Cup…..
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Arrived home late after rail nightmare from “The Smoke*, stumbled upon Piers Morgan on Sky news and being too wrecked to turn over, listened and found everything he detailed in the interview, I agreed with.
He actually came across very well and listed the lies, myths and contradictions in this sorry tale.
I wonder how long before we get the usual Odious Celeb. friend, P.Morgan enters the story.
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He was correct in what he said i thought.
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New Switch Hit shredding the ECB.
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Hopps fascinating on how the leak happened.
Kimber very interesting on the merits of Gillespie and Langer as coaches.
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Kimber said that during the defeat at Lord’s last year a prominent ECB official was jumping up and down in his box saying, “as long as I’m in charge, Alastair Cook will always be captain”.
Don’t think you need to Hercule Poirot to work out who that was.
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Even if the part about losing the ashes is hearsay and I say if. Graves and Harrison come out of the rest of it appallingly badly. Pietersen has clearly been misled at best,lied to at worst and thoroughly shafted whatever.
As for Strauss he appears to be determined to stage a reenactment of Downton last year. Sack Pietersen and invest in Cook the sequel.
An absolutely appalling episode. And this hopeless shower want to reconnect with the public and people wonder why we don’t like their team.
So much for the new brooms we had hopes for . To paraphrase Pete Townshend : Meet the new bosses even worse than the old ones
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Oh and I wonder if we will hear about the moral aspect of the deception of Pietersen from radio fives resident moral philosopher Mr Hughes who so exercises himself with Pietersen’s failings in that area. Textgate works him into a fair old lather.
Maybe that’s the key. Maybe Strauss is enjoying the moment. They say revenge is best served cold. Paying public? As one of their apologists put on TFT. If you don’t like the product don’t buy it
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Don’t like it, ain’t buying it.
If Strauss turns up anywhere near Worcestershire I’m gonna go and show him my Farmers.
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I’ll not pay any money to watch an England side Captained by Cook and/or led by Strauss. End of.
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Difficult for me to comment. Always thought that, while a goodish batsman, Strauss was not very bright. Opinion unchanged. Can’t see he has any qualification for his new job other than the ability to say “yes sir, whatever you want sir”
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Kimber interestingly described him as “not smart enough” to do the job. I suspect he is a guy who is capable of projecting the impression of intelligence without actually possessing it.
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He’s probably never /had/ to be smart enough. Cook has never /had/ to be smart enough.
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The much-missed Andrew Miller has a fabulous article up at Cricinfo. He “gets it”. Which must be why he was replaced by the egregious Hughes.
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“It would also help if the new management team could avoid coating their explanations in precisely the sort of boardroom jargon that most white-collar sports lovers seek to escape when attending a cricket match…. the white noise of corporate bullshit”.
Hell, yes!
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Just tweeted that. I’ve always been a big fan of Andrew. I don’t agree with everything he says, because I can’t possibly do that, but he gets the fans. So few really do.
(When he was released from the Cricketer, I offered him a chance to write a bit on here. That was a bit cheeky! But he gave me a ton of encouragement on DM).
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Nonsense from Lovejoy minor:
http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/05/13/lehmann-right-choice-strauss/
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More magic beans. He’s not even in the same position as Lehmann, which is a slightly fatal flaw to the argument. But sit back, relax and read this utter fuckwittery:
I don’t want the ECB to be decisive. That’s their fucking problem. They make fucking STUPID decisions. Sheer establishment cockwaffle.
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Selvey does it again. The Tyers Doctrine in full effect:
So tell us then, you f*cking coward.
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Oh Christ, I really thought he was going to leave us all alone today. Going back to Switch Hit, just cannot face Peter Cook’s biased judge right now.
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Ah yes. More than one source. So presumably Mike has bothered to talk to Flower and Cook. Not The latter probably felt humiliated when after his incessant shuffling and umming, and slagging off everyone but himself, KP pointed out that Cook forgot to tie his shoelaces. And Flower does have the reputation to inspire fear in the players. Broad admitted as much. So probably he was convinced that the Apocalypse was about to happen, because KP, sinfully, looked out of a window. Or something equally outrageous as that.
Selvey also did not bother with the likes of Carberry, Tremlett, Swann (who apparently has recanted for his sins, presumably the sin of telling the truth), and a host of others. No, only the ones in autoritay are worth bothering with. The rest are just irrelevances at best, fruit flies at worst.
As far as analysis goes with Mike, we’ll get criticism of the players who were selected and not fit for purpose. Not of the selectors who should have seen that Tremlett was not the same player as he was in 2010/11. No, those selectors are too high up the hierarchy, and therefore are unable to make mistakes. We get criticism of Carberry for getting in and getting out. Which was on average, still doing more getting in than Cook did, but hey …
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He should pay the moderators out of his own pocket.
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You know that’s Swann Jr on an Aussies site?
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Is that for me? I’m just making a general point having read the comments below Selvey’s article (still can’t face the piece itself).
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I thought you might have been getting confused by the two articles. Apologies.
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No need to apologise. Moderation rate currently 10%, by the way. KTBFFH 100%, poor bugger.
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And I was responding to the Selvey tweet.
Think the issue is more of a wordpress issue (depth of threads), than anything else.
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Apparently someone has been modded for listing favourable quotes about Pietersen that come from outside the clique.
The Guardian, ladies and gentlemen. The Guardian.
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Lehmann played his last Test for Australia, when Michael Clarke played his eighth. As far as I can determine no other current Australian player had played Tests with Lehmann. Lehmann played his last Test in 2004. So was nearly a decade away from the Test side.
The counter stood at about 78 for Cook by the time Strauss retired (they played 78 Tests with the two of them in the team). Similar numbers for KP, Bell. And quite high for Strauss and Broad, Bell, and Anderson. And fairly substantial for Prior and Swann as well. Strauss retired in 2012. Not even three years ago.
So, yeah, slight disparity in length of professional relationships between Clarke and Lehmann on the one hand, and Strauss and the ‘darling bullyboys’ on the other.
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I see legsidelizzy has tweeted that she’s not really interested in reading Selvey’s thoughts. Obviously a discerning woman
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I cancelled my newspaper today. Partly re cricket, but also politics. I don’t buy The Independent to be told to vote Tory.
And now Strauss has given Cook the whole summer to faf about, I don’t want to read Brenkley genuflecting in front of him. So goodbye Indie. I bought a copy on the first day it came out back in 1986, I think it was. Martin Johnson was the cricket writer. fun times.
The non Dom owner has decided to take it down shitsville. Adiós
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Martin Johnson is the principal reason I still take an interest in cricket writing. 1989-1993 especially he was simply unbeatable. I often feel wistful just wondering what the hell he would have made of this.
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Arron this is something he wrote for the cricketer in 2012
http://blog.thecricketer.com/?p=37067
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Made a shite day a whole lot brighter. Thank you.
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Very good writer, funny and incisive (whereas, e.g.Barney Ronay is funny but not always incisive, though when he is, he’s very good). Incidentally, for anyone interested, Amazon are flogging his book (Can’t Bat, Can’t Bowl, Can’t Field, an anthology of his material in the period mentioned by Arorn) ridiculously cheaply. I mean, like 1p plus postage for hardback edition. Buy it to see what cricket lost when Johnson moved on to other sports.
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I own it already. But you probably knew that.
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Yeah, I figured you would, but I never miss an opportunity to plug that book so others can see what we enjoyed. The Ted Dexter era at least had a press that did its job.
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So since the last Ashes white wash, after a year and a half of “rebuilding” and “moving on” with their “new philosophy” and “special brand” of cricket involves not worrying about winning. That’s what steely decisiveness is all about. No wonder they don’t trust KP to be able to fit in with that kind of planning. And no wonder they think Cook is the one to lead them through it.
It’s brilliant. It’s even dumber than sacking KP for a second time. Decide “We don’t care if we win or not” and then pick the squad who you think can best implement that plan.
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Seems to me today was just Groundhog Day from the last Ashes. KP has been told he won’t play again. Check! A new human shield/Darth Vader has been brought in to protect Cook, after the last Darth Vader found his light saber started to malfunction. Check. We will get a new coach. Check!
So,16 months later and we have advanced not one inch. Marvelous!
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Just got home from a night out. Phone went mental tonight with replies. And you’re all absolutely spot on.
This is just fucking ridiculous.
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A few thoughts. Remove all the rumours, toxicity, he said, they said etc etc. surrounding KP and just concentrate on his innings yesterday. Is there any other player qualified to play for England who could have done that? Heck there have only been 28 triple centuries in test cricket, and if I counted correctly 62 in county cricket. In terms of county cricket, that knock is the 6th highest ever (again if I have counted correctly)! Now I am not saying KP should walk straight back into the team, but why would you not want a player who can do that, available for selection. A player who is obviously much fitter than last he played for England and who is in top form…..
Secondly, I found it amazing that throughout the ‘tuffers and Vaughan’ show tonight they failed to mention one simple issue, or if they did I missed it. Namely, are Clarke or Flower still pulling the strings. If they are, Graves and Harrison will be hamstrung by this. It would not surprise me if Clarke has told Graves to backtrack on his KP promise and said to Harrison that KP cannot come back and that is final….because of this, Graves and Harrison end up where they are today, looking not get clever indeed……
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For:
Boycott
Vaughan
Warne
Flintoff
Gough
Tudor
Herbert
Lineker
G Smith
Lloyd
Against:
Selvey
Strauss
Cook
Etheridge
Brenkley
Pringle
E Smith
S Hughes
G Clarke
Tuffers
I’ve done some extensive ‘analysis’ (made up, off the cuff rubbish to suit my argument – thanks Simon!) on the reaction to KP’s (second) sacking and have come to a conclusion. It is clear the people on these pages who express such dismay at KP’s treatment are obviously not of sufficiently good stock or well educated enough to understand what a beastly fellow he is. A cursory glance at the names above confirms this. However not all is lost if you are failing on both counts (see Tuffers) simply go and play cricket for Middlesex & there’ll be enough good eggs to steer you on the right path. Just don’t forget to call them Straussy, Hughesy or Smithy and remember they’re always right because they’re like really clever!
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