Tough times ahead for English cricket

Former Australian cricketers were quick to jump in on the Strauss-Pietersen debacle, led of course by cheerleader-in-chief, Shane Warne. Photo by: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

Former Australian cricketers were quick to jump in on the Strauss-Pietersen debacle, led of course by cheerleader-in-chief, Shane Warne. Photo by: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

Published May 15, 2015

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Thus far silence from the England and Wales Cricket Board, but the Australian voice was as one, and in support of Kevin Pietersen. Over the top they came, one after another singing from the pious Pietersen hymn sheet, led of course by cheerleader-in-chief, Shane Warne, tweeting his groomed little head off in praise of an old mate.

"Question; will the ECB only employ a new coach on the proviso he doesn't want KP in the team?" he wrote. "Gillespie or Langer would have wanted KP." The tirade continued: "I'm back for the Lord's test between England and New Zealand. Will be an interesting press conference the day before when Cook is asked 'Did u want KP in the team?'.To me England will struggle to win a Test match this summer! 2-0 loss to New Zealand is likely and so too a third 5-0 whitewash in eight years against Australia."

Pietersen sat out the final day of Surrey's game with Leicestershire with a calf stain and it was later confirmed he will not be fit enough to join up with the Sunrisers Hyderabad - and could be an interested spectator at the first Test at Lord's next week.

Matthew Hayden, who alongside Warne was a key member of the 2005 Ashes touring side on the wrong end of the first flowering of the Pietersen genius, warned that any coach considering the England post would not have the freedom to select his own players. "You'd be crazy to apply for the England coach's role because with a director, you are the man the establishment is going to kick. You have no control whatsoever," Hayden said.

"I think England are entering into a very dangerous space. They have been in a perilous position for the last six months and they are going into very deep times now with an absolutely on-fire New Zealand team and a really revengeful and very in form Australian team too.

"There are going to be some really tough times ahead for England and they need to sort their back of office out quickly, otherwise we are going to see England fall well behind in those Test rankings.

"There have been very few players in the last one or two generations that have had the ability to entertain and direct their attention towards positive cricket like Kevin Pietersen has. He was in line with Andrew Flintoff as one of the extremely dominant players that was able to overturn the great Australian team of that 2000 era." – The Independent

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