Ah. Do you remember where you were last year when the news of KP’s “final sacking” was, in the grand old style, leaked? When KP had finished the day 326* to be taken to a hotel and told his services were no longer required, except as a mentor to the ODI team?
I was on my way up to Atlantic City from the beloved’s home town (and if you saw the Blacklist last week, that episode was NOT shot in Cape May. That got me mad). I’d been following the score rising and rising. I kept on laughing. Then came the anger at the leak. Then Strauss. The decision and the aftermath.
Some will say this is the short post of a KP groupie. Some will say this is just part of the obsession.
I say it is precisely why this blog exists. To say we don’t forget this crap. We don’t forget the personal grievances. We don’t forget the contempt the authorities showed towards supporters like us. In their words, it is a case of trust. And I don’t trust the authorities and those who report on them. That TRUST went. TRUST has to be earned.
Oh, and curse you Joe Root. Spare my team your batting practice! Unlike last year, when there was glorious sunshine on the Garden State Parkway, I’m praying for rain today.
Being Outside Cricket 
Aye, this was the moment when we all realised that Colin Graves, while insisting he was a man of his word, demonstrated that he was quite clearly not a man of his word.
The great man seems to have been strangely absent over the last year as well.
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One wonders what the computer would say…
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It was when if I still had the tiniest bit of respect for the ECB it dissappeared.It was the moment when any respect I had ever had for Andrew Strauss disappeared and changed to pity and I think hate. What fools they were to treat KP the way they did.Did they think we would all just shrug our shoulders and get on with watching the farce called cricket.A computer would only say what the data put into it would allow and somehow they would have made sure it couldn’t say Kevin Pietersen.The invisible man. Did they really think he would disappear?
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I was really angry with the ECB. The sensible option from Strauss would’ve been to say ‘you’re in contention the same as everyone else.’ Instead he just issues a pointless ban. That’s the point I truly stopped caring about England.
Also, I too am doing the rain dance for Surrey today. Bloody Root & Bairstow. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like them.
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I’m sure we’re going over old ground but I laugh when the usual suspects in the media give praise/blow wind up his Khyber over the decision to sack Moores. They were already going to do that after the shambles of the World Cup yet their Downton shabby sacking meant they had no figurehead in place to be ‘responsible’ for it.
When Strauss was in place he did the deed, even though it was leaked lamentably when Moores had the ODI side in Ireland. That itself was not Strauss’s fault though.
Then we have the Pietersen decision which of course again the usual suspects can’t help but bow down. However it doesn’t need me to point out that there are 3 spots in the England team that batsmen haven’t filled adequately, so the decision or otherwise is hardly one that has been proven to be of cricket merit. Just to recall for those of you who have a fault memory, England’s overall record since the start of the Australia series is W5 D2 L5. Not bad by any means but hardly so fantastic as to be so gushing.
Now we have the points system for international series and this ridiculous North v South game. At best these are just silly gimmicks. In the words of Shania Twain, “that don’t impress me much”.
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Looks like the women’s game has got another coach who thinks it’s all about him.
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It’s sort of the inescapable conclusion from this development.
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There was obvious friction at that last press conference, but none of the media picked up on it. Mind you, I wouldn’t like to be a journalist trying to get an unguarded statement out of Clare Connor.
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Sack your best player – where have I heard that before? I’m annoyed. No I don’t call it “retired”. That’s clearly a lie.
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This is a terrific blog, but the blinkers can get donned rather sharpish.
Lotte Edwards has been one of England’s greatest ever cricketers, of either gender. She has adorned the game for two decades, was a terrific batsman to watch and an amazing role model for our sport.
That said, she’s a paid professional. Anyone watching the Ashes in the winter could see she’s virtually immobile in the field and, when she was dismissed, the rest of the line up would fold alarmingly. Given her advanced (sporting) years, could you objectively say her best years were ahead of her ? I couldn’t. Chanderpaul hung on too long and was diminishing his reputation over the last year of his test career.
Coaches of professional sports teams are paid to make tough decisions. It’s not a sentimental undertaking. Robinson’s made a huge call, most likely to allow a new captain not to be potentially overshadowed by having a legend in the ranks. Time will tell if he’s correct but there was an elephant in the room and he’s reacted.
As for KP, I get why many remain pissed off at the nature of his sacking, even if I don’t share that anger. But, truly, if the “obsessive” tag actually bothers anyone here (and I doubt it does), why not try and go a fortnight without mentioning / writing about him ? The sun will still come up I reckon ☀️
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Good point well made
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On Edwards I ask the question. The key factor is does she merit a place? All I’m saying. My view is too often coaches make the decision to appear “tough”.
KP made 300+ a year ago today. I love anniversaries. Especially important ones. If you understand the blog you know why I do what I do. I have barely mentioned him since his exit from the IPL. But you know that. 😀
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You lost me with your rather patronising “Lotte Edwards” Last time I looked her name was Charlotte.
But no doubt that will be portrayed as being “obsessive.”
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I’m obsessive about being able to have an opinion
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Sidesplittin, an accurate and succinct summing up. Lottie Edwards has been an excellent cricketer but her lack of mobility has been notable recently, there’s no shame at all in that as age slows even the best.
Mark, there’s nothing patronising at all in calling her Lottie as it is the name she prefers which is why she uses Lottie as her name on Twitter.
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If dropped on merit then absolutely no complaints. But check out what people like Robert Key are saying. Call them out. Because there’s a school of thought out there that it wasn’t a performance based decision.
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Isn’t it funny how they always come in a tag team? Pretending to be different people? The second of the tag always starts by congratulating the first tag on their genius.
Sooooooo predictable. YAWN!
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No. Disagreement is fine. No problem. But telling me what to write? No. There’s a principle behind this blog that keeps the critics coming back. It’s why it works. It’s why it is still relevant.
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I think it was the day the ECB and the media were revealed in all their glory as total charlatans. Their carefully constructed excuses for why KP was not playing test cricket were shown to be a bunch of lies.
” he is not playing first class cricket.”
” he hasn’t got a county.”
“he is not scoring any runs.”
I will also remember the 5 live interview with Agnew who was able to tell the waiting nation within minutes of the meeting finishing that KP had been told he would not play for England. (He refused to say how he had come by that information.) What was particulary delicious is this was the same journalist who kept telling us that the KP genius account was not run from the England dressing room. Ho Ho Ho
It’s worth remembering at the time of the Moores sacking that some of the journalists had begun to turn on the ECB because Graves had given the impression that KP might get another chance for England. This infuriated the pompus press pack , and so they were looking for any excuse to give the ECB a rare kicking. Moores sacking was the excuse they needed. I think even Strauss was criticised for the shambles. But the real reason for their fury was that KP might be coming back. It is possible Graves saw which way the wind was blowing, and decided he would give them what they wanted. Anything for a quiet life. Strauss shut the door on any recall, and gained a lot of cheap publicity and kudos from the muppets in the gallery.
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Sad news about Tony Cozier. A great loss. His voice will be much missed
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Absolutely. Don’t know if it’s a generation thing but the only commentator left I respect is Robin Jackman. Real commentaors talk to the viewer, the rest talk to each other
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Jim Maxwell?
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I haven’t been here for a while as demands on my time have left little chance to read blogs but it seems to me that people go round and round in circles here. I think the Serenity Prayer applies to many here which is ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference’.
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“people go round and round in circles here”
Not really. It’s always about cricket, of course. But there’s a good variety of pieces on different aspects of the sport.
But oddly, on the increasingly rare occasions when Dmitri writes about Pietersen, people who don’t read the blog very much turn up and tell us that it’s always the same and we must all be obsessed.
As for the ‘serenity prayer’, surely the second phrase is as important as the first, and there are different ways of changing things.
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It’s my blog. I’ll write what I want. It seems to work.
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I honestly cannot talk about this, as it still makes me so angry.
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LCL – the corollary for Robinson is if he let the situation drift he may look “weak”. He’s made a judgement call. As to your question; on batting, yes, on fielding and captaincy (based on results over the past couple of years), no.
By way of a sample, I’m sure neither of us can be arsed tallying up the number of cumulative references made to KP by all contributors here over the past fortnight, as I appreciate you’ve avoided the topic of late.
I didn’t tell you what to write. I opined your blog was terrific. I did what you declare permissible and disagreed with the theme that she’s been hard done by.
Benny – my post was my opinion on this topic, I never suggested you can’t express your own. Your opinion was that the best player has been sacked and that a lie has been perpetrated – I have a different view.
Mark – I called her by the name which she refers to herself. That’s not patronising. I post here infrequently as time is often scarce for me, although I read the contributions regularly. That you think I’m sad enough to pose as other people to get a point across makes me feel rather bad for you.
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I have mixed feelings about the Charlotte Edwards issue. I think it’s not the fact of her deselection so much, after all her knees are shot, but the manner in which it was done! The ECB could have done it better, but chose not to, and was typically cack handed weaselry!!
Once again, KP’s demise was a symptom, not the cause that fuels the ire, it’s the machinations of the ECB, that bastion of Establishment skullduggery, that constantly urges us to “move on”.
Well, no, I won’t, and neither will most on this blog! It got a well deserved mention in Wisden this year. Our dissatisfaction with the ECB is becoming a nationally recognised voice for the disenfranchised cricket lover, and might well be a force for change in the whole rotten edifice!
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I’m naturally a bit touchy when the KP thing is raised. It’s a tiresome stuck to beat me with. I might have taken those words the wrong way. That said I am not avoiding him but there just wasn’t much to write.
Much more informative last night was the tete a tete between Newman and Tregaskis. I’d recommend reading it.
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Exactly Dave. KP and the way that was handled was just a symptom of how rotten the system was/is. Since then we have had Moores bizzare dismissal in full public view live on Sky in Ireland and now this. Even Lord Cook of Bedford was non to happy about how his own sacking from the ODI team was handled.
But unfortunately some people think it’s all about KP, and that we are all obsessed. Perhaps if they took there own blinkers off they might see the wood from the trees.
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The MSM showing their total disregard to anyone who dare question them again:
https://twitter.com/paul_newmandm/status/730521537875447808
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Round about the same time as your lot acknowledge that, judged on results alone, Flower’s side had actually been in decline for TWO YEARS prior to the 13/14 Ashes, maybe…? Or that, judged on other metrics, there was already plenty going wrong before the implosion on the same tour…?
I say again, never in 35 years have I seen sports journalists so totally and utterly in thrall to one man.
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Yes, the complete failure to look at that bigger picture alone makes the interview a failure in terms of its content.
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Manohar elected unopposed:
http://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2016/media-releases/94820/shashank-manohar-elected-unopposed-as-independent-icc-chairman
I’ve liked most of the noises Manohar has been making (although some cryptic remarks about Lodha when he stood down from the BCCI were slightly concerning) – but I can’t help feeling that a contested election would have been better for the game. All the talk about ‘independence’ and new election auditing procedures are hot air if there’s only one candidate.
“The ultimate objective is to grow our sport”. You said it Mr. Manohar – now let’s see it.
And I’m sure we’re all sparing a thought for Giles at what must be a difficult time.
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In the name of God, noooooooo….
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ICC wannabe chairman are like zombies.
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After all the speculation about shake-ups and wholesale changes, we get just the one enforced change. At least it’s made monkeys out of some of our media chums! Sure that Ball will be the drinks carrier.
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Tremendous emphasis seems to be placed on Balls Lions tour. Remind me who runs The Lions? I have nothing against Ball, but outside Anderson, Broad and Finn (if in form) the cupboard is pretty bare of England fast bowlers.
Like STEVET says ,If the other three are fit, with Stokes as all rounder I can’t see him playing.
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So Kusal Perera is now acquitted of his drugs’ charge:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/1012829.html
Good grief, what a mess.
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Not sure where this goes but interesting news in the light of TV discussions around BT’s decision on the European Cup Final..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/12/bt-sport-to-stream-champions-league-final-and-europa-league-fina/
A progressive move or a desperate move to justify their investment?
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Selvey is just the gift that keeps giving –
In an article in which he plays down the importance of CC form for Test selection, he seems keen to drop Finn – because of a handful of mediocre (but by no means disastrous) CC matches. Finn has a slightly better average than Broad or Anderson (28.3 to 28,7 and 29.2) and a much superior SR (47.4 to 56.7 and 58.1). Finn has a much better recent series average than Anderson. None of this does Selvey mention.
Selvey seems keen on Ball based on one CC match and reports from we-know-who with the Lions. We-know-who’s record in identifying future Test players is best passed over. Selvey always seems to prefer swing bowlers to pace and bounce bowlers (think of his different attitudes to Harris and Johnson). It couldn’t be that they remind him of himself, could it? Is his ego that large?
Also, if Finn has a great career, that’ll make the handling of him by Selvey’s mates look even more pitiful than it does now. We can’t have that.
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By the way, if one checks Ball’s performances for the Lions they weren’t that stellar. He took 6 wickets at 25.8 in 5 ODIs against Pakistan A. Tom Curran took more wickets at a lower average and Toby Roland-Jones was more economical.
It would have been nice to watch some of these games and form some opinions based on more than the stats – but our ‘Home of Cricket’ never seem to think the Lions worth showing.
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This is tremendous stuff Simon. Selvey is as predicable as night following day. Who is running English cricket? Who was given a soft soap interview by another well known journo this week?
I have nothing against Ball personally. I have never seem him bowl. But if he has been selected based on Lions form, we all know who is behind this selection.
I’m also amused by the playing down of CC. Compton’s lack of CC form is held against him by the very same illuminati of the English cricket media.
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