KP and english cricket

[Ken Gargett]

as an aussie, you can never bash the poms enough. and whilst we do it reasonably well, we are a sad second to the poms bashing themselves. nothing can self-destruct like an english sporting team. you just have to sit back in wonder and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNexLoG19rg&app=desktop

and a follow up.

Date: 16 May 2015 12:23:0

Kevin Pieterson Could Disrupt Our Unique Losing Culture, Says England

May 14, 2015

Picking one of the world’s best batsmen could disturb the special losing feeling that the team has been cultivating over the past few years, England’s cricket director Andrew Strauss said today.

“It’s a culture thing,” Strauss stressed. “Players like Pieterson have a tendency to unsettle the equilibrium. For him it’s all ‘win this, win that’. That doesn’t sit comfortably with the culture we’re trying to create here”.

He cited the recent World Cup as an example. “The way the boys came together to get beaten by a side like Bangladesh – that was special. I just don’t think that would’ve happened with KP in the team.

He said building a sense of ineptitude took time, and he didn’t want to derail the work done to date by lobbing world-class players into the mix. “What you’re looking for in any team is balance. And having a guy that can go out there and score 300-odd hanging around the team is really going to disrupt that balance.

“It’s nothing personal. I wish Kevin all the best as he tears apart bowling attacks in county cricket and in the IPL. But his future’s not at England”.

[JohnS]

Ken, this cancer with English cricket seems to re-occur again and again. Every team has personality issues, it's how it is managed that counts.

It wasn't long ago that Graham Gooch had a big fitness drive when he captained the team in the early 1990s and this meant friction with other players such as David Gower. The end result? Gower is banished after 1992...England make it to the World Cup Final and fail and the fallout between these two guys continues to this day!

[muzz]

With the Ashes to be played out soon I for one do not want KP in the English team. I want England to lose 5 in a row and with a player like KP on fire then they could come a little closer to winning a game.

[westg]

Love watching the man bat....I would like to see him there, the more competitive the game the better... Ken I found that video hilarious and probably to the point, thankyou ...I didn't know he had a book out... I will probably buy it if I come across it... He is good mates with Shane Warne so he can't be any worse than him in the change room.

[CaptainQuintero]

I think its a chronic management issue across nearly English sport. The talent is there in cricket, rugby and football etc to do very well but man management, coaching, etc just seems to not be there to cope with the difficulties that comes with top talent

[Ken Gargett]

Love watching the man bat....I would like to see him there, the more competitive the game the better... Ken I found that video hilarious and probably to the point, thankyou ...I didn't know he had a book out... I will probably buy it if I come across it... He is good mates with Shane Warne so he can't be any worse than him in the change room.

warnie is actually extremely likeable, even if he does carry on like a tosser at times. i suspect kp is simply a tosser. but he certainly can bat.

not sure if you are kidding about the book (or did you spend a few months in a cave in patagonia?). it was massive news. at the heart of the problem. basically said how he was misunderstood, brilliant, hardly done by, the victim, a saint etc etc etc. and everyone else was a terrible person who was unfair to him. bagged teammates and anyone else.

the whole thing handles very badly but he really did dump all over his team and english cricket.

[JohnS]

Those Downfall parody videos never fail to entertain. These are taken from the famous 4-minute scene from the 2004 film starring Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler when his generals tell him that he doesn't have enough troops to defend Berlin from the advancing Allies in the last days of the Second World War in 1945.

There are other parodies where Hitler has his World of Warcraft account hacked, learns Michael Jackson is dead, demands his 5.1 surround system be returned because the sound of vuvuzelas are deafening during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and of course, don't forget the one where Hitler struggles to find Wally!

This latest one on Pietersen's non-selection is quite good too!

[Ken Gargett]

Those Downfall parody videos never fail to entertain. These are taken from the famous 4-minute scene from the 2004 film starring Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler when his generals tell him that he doesn't have enough troops to defend Berlin from the advancing Allies in the last days of the Second World War in 1945.

There are other parodies where Hitler has his World of Warcraft account hacked, learns Michael Jackson is dead, demands his 5.1 surround system be returned because the sound of vuvuzelas are deafening during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and of course, don't forget the one where Hitler struggles to find Wally!

This latest one on Pietersen's non-selection is quite good too!

there are dozens.

wenger doesn't strengthen the arsenal defence, i seem to recall.

the mess the wallabies are in.

nsw failing to win origin. the list goes on.

the film was on sbs the other evening.

i should really try and find that one on the origin. think it might get a re-run this year.

[JoeyGunz]

KP owns a bar in my home town, www.rubi-london.com was meant to be seeing him play for Surrey against Middlesex soon

[Philski]

the whole thing handles very badly but he really did dump all over his team and english cricket.

This is true. Considering that book came out about 6 months ago, I'm not sure why you don't understand that he's not being welcomed back by English Cricket with open arms and wide grins?

If Hitler had been the world's most gifted childminder, you wouldn't have let him work in a Jewish kindergarten, would you?

[CaptainQuintero]

Godwin's law!

[westg]

warnie is actually extremely likeable, even if he does carry on like a tosser at times. i suspect kp is simply a tosser. but he certainly can bat.

not sure if you are kidding about the book (or did you spend a few months in a cave in patagonia?). it was massive news. at the heart of the problem. basically said how he was misunderstood, brilliant, hardly done by, the victim, a saint etc etc etc. and everyone else was a terrible person who was unfair to him. bagged teammates and anyone else.

the whole thing handles very badly but he really did dump all over his team and english cricket.

I love Warnie ...no questioning his ability ...I do not know a single person who actually likes the man. In his final test ...each player in the Australian team was asked who is the last person you want to share a room with on tour ...the whole team replied Shane Warne ..I once saw him at the WACA from memory 1997 ..test match against the West Indies ( I think may have been Sri Lanka) any way the area he was sitting in had two signs ..No smoking in this area ....keep your feet off the rail...there he was smoking with his feet on the rail ...I remember speaking to the staff there they had nothing but hatred for the man.

So what is it a good read or not ?

[Ken Gargett]

This is true. Considering that book came out about 6 months ago, I'm not sure why you don't understand that he's not being welcomed back by English Cricket with open arms and wide grins?

If Hitler had been the world's most gifted childminder, you wouldn't have let him work in a Jewish kindergarten, would you?

i can understand it, in a sense but in many ways, it is crazy. if england had a half decent team then sure.

but i don't buy the hitler analogy. sure, KP might make the kindergarten an awkward place but if he is the only one who might save the kids (as opposed to what hitler might do), you'd have him. and at the moment, he appears the only one who might save the team.

the guy who should have gone, at least as captain - he is possibly the worst international captain i have ever seen - is cook.

don't need the grins and open arms. just need to find a way to make it workable. these are grown men. the rest of the world gets by with endless instances of having to work with people you might not like but you find a way. highly paid sportsmen can't manage that?

if england get up and win the ashes - always a possibility as we can do a bit of self-destructing ourselves - then strauss and crowd will look like geniuses and all this forgotten and forgiven. but if that old adage, do what your opponents would least like, then KP should be first picked.

i run into mark taylor at a few wine events - he is completely baffled by this. cannot understand it. why banish your best batsman?

[Philski]

It's a team sport, and the dynamics of teams are a weird and mysterious thing. Only last summer Andy Strauss went on record calling Pieterson a c**t. Not intentionally, obviously, but the record is still there. If there is a way back from that, it will certainly be longer than 12 months. Straussy has some face to save for starters.

And lest we forget: this is the guy who was busted for sending derogatory text messages to the South African team - mid-Test - about the England team that he was playing for, and specifically his captain, Andy Strauss. Allegedly (!), including tips about how best to bowl at Strauss the next day, which resulted in an early shower for said captain.

What would you do in Andy Strauss's position?

EDIT: Re. Cook - 100% correct. C*** of the very lowest order.

[Ken Gargett]

I love Warnie ...no questioning his ability ...I do not know a single person who actually likes the man. In his final test ...each player in the Australian team was asked who is the last person you want to share a room with on tour ...the whole team replied Shane Warne ..I once saw him at the WACA from memory 1997 ..test match against the West Indies ( I think may have been Sri Lanka) any way the area he was sitting in had two signs ..No smoking in this area ....keep your feet off the rail...there he was smoking with his feet on the rail ...I remember speaking to the staff there they had nothing but hatred for the man.

So what is it a good read or not ?

no idea about the read and no doubt warnie has the different drum approach to life but i've never met anyone who has met him who didn't really like the bloke. yes, can be a tosser but he seems an extremely likeable one.

when he had his wine come out - a disaster as it was just before the drugs allegations - i got to spend about 90 minutes with him after a day's play in brizzy during the ashes series at that time to have a few beers. had a hoot. and he was fantastic with everyone who came up to him.

a mate who had a fair bit to do with him said his wife wanted nothing to do with him - till she met him. then he just about had to hose her down.

another mate i used to work with in a law firm in london was telling me he bid for an hour with warnie in the nets for his son. appointed time, no warnie. he was about 90 minutes late with no call or anything. my mate was furious. was about to abandon the whole thing and get his dosh back. warnie finally turns up, no apology, smoking a ***. my mate was livid. but from that moment, he said warnie was brilliant. looked after the kid's every wish. stayed for about four hours, without being asked. could not have done more.

he just does things his way and does not care what anyone thinks.

[Ken Gargett]

It's a team sport, and the dynamics of teams are a weird and mysterious thing. Only last summer Andy Strauss went on record calling Pieterson a c**t. Not intentionally, obviously, but the record is still there. If there is a way back from that, it will certainly be longer than 12 months. Straussy has some face to save for starters.

And lest we forget: this is the guy who was busted for sending derogatory text messages to the South African team - mid-Test - about the England team that he was playing for, and specifically his captain, Andy Strauss. Allegedly (!), including tips about how best to bowl at Strauss the next day, which resulted in an early shower for said captain.

What would you do in Andy Strauss's position?

EDIT: Re. Cook - 100% correct. C*** of the very lowest order.

i understand what you say and i know, from working in london, things are done differently there.

but again, clashes in the workplace happen every day. people get over it and get the job done.

sure, these guys hate each other but should a personal feud destroy something so big as the ashes? had they said to KP, months ago, sorry but you are not ever going to be considered again and these are the reasons, then fair enough. but they held out the opportunity and told him what he had to do to get back in. he did that and then they shafted him. that is surely unacceptable.

his behaviour has been appalling but you penalise the bloke at the time - fines, suspensions or possible banning - then move on. this endless mess has poisoned english cricket - which, as an aussie, i love.

but if you look at what you have written, england, the fans, the team, are all being punished so strauss (and for me, cook) can save face? insanity. long may it continue.

[Ken Gargett]

no, that gets deleted, in accord with forum rules, but i understand the sentiment.

[Philski]

Godwin's law!

Good shout, Cap'n! From the latest edition of Private Eye...