The enigma that is Kevin Pietersen

[greyblazer]

AS' decision was done in a way to help him to escape from the rule. I still remember him saying after the t/20 in WI that he didn't want to play t/20 anymore.

[Making_Splinters]

I think this has been mentioned before but the rule didn't actually exist when Strauss retired from T20.

And yes Grey, Strauss did say in the press that he had no intention to play T20 either internationally or domestically around the World T20, I put the article in this thread a while back.

Either way we should not be trying to justify one double standard with a second, two wrongs have never and will never make a right.

[greyblazer]

Can we expect those players who get picked up by some IPL franchise to play for the country? There will be exceptions but these days you will find more and more cricketers looking at say IPL and BBL.

Is the ECB at least trying to sort it out like the NZ board? By leaking info it doesn't seem so.

If KP goes to IPL and misses out on a series in which he will be selected should he continue to play? Hmm! no.

If not anything else try to sort out the issues instead of trying to escalate it by leaking info all the time.

[Aidan11]

"Kevin Pietersen ate my Hamster" - The Sun.

[Making_Splinters]

Can we expect those players who get picked up by some IPL franchise to play for the country? There will be exceptions but these days you will find more and more cricketers looking at say IPL and BBL.

Is the ECB at least trying to sort it out like the NZ board? By leaking info it doesn't seem so.

If KP goes to IPL and misses out on a series in which he will be selected should he continue to play? Hmm! no.

If not anything else try to sort out the issues instead of trying to escalate it by leaking info all the time.

The ECB don't need to sort anything out, they've made it so no matter what happens KP will be the villian in the press.

[shankycricket]

The ECB havent helped matters by leaking out information but then I dont want a player who prioritises IPL over Test cricket playing for England no matter how good or "entertaining" he is.
I dont want a player in my team, who constantly moans about the international schedule but is busy making arrangements to play hit and giggle cricket in other countries. Not just the IPL but also the BBL.

Thanks for your services, Kevin but you're pi$$ing me off now.

[Making_Splinters]

The ECB havent helped matters by leaking out information but then I dont want a player who prioritises IPL over Test cricket playing for England no matter how good or "entertaining" he is.
I dont want a player in my team, who constantly moans about the international schedule but is busy making arrangements to play hit and giggle cricket in other countries. Not just the IPL but also the BBL.

Thanks for your services, Kevin but you're pi$$ing me off now.

[Kim]

The ECB havent helped matters by leaking out information but then I dont want a player who prioritises IPL over Test cricket playing for England no matter how good or "entertaining" he is.
I dont want a player in my team, who constantly moans about the international schedule but is busy making arrangements to play hit and giggle cricket in other countries. Not just the IPL but also the BBL.

Thanks for your services, Kevin but you're pi$$ing me off now.

And what do you really feel Shanks? Stop holding back.

I want to know who on KPs side "leaked" that he is angry with a spoof twitter account.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Mike Selvey-

I'm going to try and explain something about supposed ECB leaks. I don't think KP understands the difference between a 'leak' and ' off the record briefing'. it is just a word trotted out. In my world anyway a leak is something deliberately planted by an organisation to its own end. In all my time in this job I have never been on the receiving end of such. A briefing on the other hand most often happens in response to an enquiry or to a situation that quite obviously demands clarification but is not for quoting. Beyond that, far from being a leaky bucket, the ECB, believe me, is notoriously anal with its information, from team selection downwards.
On the other hand, consider this. Many players over the years have had newspaper columns and therefore relationships with journalists ( I exclude myself in this regard because I have always refused to ghost anyone believing it would compromise my ability to be objective about a player: others have not had that option) and of course gossip gets passed on. Further to that I should also point out that a number of those working in the media either act as agents for or are involved in the same agencies as some players. Until KP bought him out recently Ian Botham was actually chairman of the company that managed KP.
So we all need to be careful when going off half cock and pointing fingers at ECB for supposed 'leaks'.

[Making_Splinters]

So Selvey is confirming that it was indeed the ECB that passed the information to the press.

[Kim]

Dont think hes doing that at all.

But its all puffery - the DT said it got its info from ECB sources. End of.

Id be more interested in who leaked what to who if KP denied the leaks, tho accept its out of order.

[Arthur Crabtree]

In terms of Selvey, it seems to come down to your definition of a leak.

As it is clear that the twitter story is pure mischief making, maybe Pringle will own up to wumming in his Telegraph story.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Anyone know who KP is negotiating with?

[sussexpob]

I think personally the next interesting thing that happens is, if KP does retire, and Morgan is overlooked as a replacement.... is there a possiblity that we face a similar situation with him?

I mean I am under no illusions that the IPL will remain a short tournament. Why would it? Compared to USA sports(all with seasons ranging from 22 weeks and possible 22 matches in American Football, to playing 4 to 6 times a week in a 186 game regular season for baseball), or things like Rugby/Football, it is the shortest major sports tournament of its type... it will expand no doubt, there is too much money to be generated and too much interest from the performers to stop that.

If England a schdule clash in Feb or March, or even May, would Morgan sacrifice 2 million USD's to play Bangladesh in 2 x T20's? He has no affiliation to England, his test career is arguably pretty uncertain at the generous assumption, at the worst its probably over.

At what point does the benefit of sticking with England become outweighed by the dosh to hand playing IPL? Lets not joke here, the ECB trying the old fashioned honesty and loyalty argument reeks exactly of what it is.... the last move of a person who is about to lose all their chips in a poker match when they realised they played high stakes with a crap hand!!!!

The gravity of the situation is being overlooked.... England are losing their most gifted batter in all forms of cricket, arguably the best batter we have had in a couple of generations!!! If you honestly want to shrug that off and pretend that this is nothing, you are totally wrong!!

[D/L]

In all probability, if there were a demand for the IPL to last longer than it currently does, it would already do so. I doubt the entrepreneurs with the IPL franchises would have missed such a trick! However, they probably think they are milking it to the maximum as it is and would soon hit the law of diminishing returns were they to extend it.

I think we are, therefore, talking about an overseas domestic Twenty20 tournament that lasts but a few short weeks, inconvenient as they are for the English season. Players who wish to play in it should be allowed to do so if they wish, but not to dishonour any contract they have with the ECB, which is what Pietersen seems to want to do. They need to remember, though, that their value to the franchisees is partly a function of their fame and, in most cases, they have acquired and sustained this through international cricket.

I’m sure that reason will prevail in the end and that, with one or two notable exceptions, England will be able to field full strength test teams in the early season and the IPL will continue to recruit the players it wants, even if not many of them are current England internationals.