Colly backs Flower over KP
September 5, 2012 at 8:34 am thomasrooney 1 comment
Former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood has backed coach Andy Flower to make the right decision when he decides whether to recall Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen has been dropped from the England one-day squad and T20 World Cup squad after he was alleged to have sent provocative text messages regarding Flower and former captain Andrew Strauss to South Africa players during the second Test at Headingley last month.
Pietersen already had a strained relationship with both the game’s authorities and his team-mates, with the 32-year-old accused of being selfish and arrogant.
He had ironically threatened to quit international cricket altogether prior to the Headingley Test due to his frustration at being unable to retire from one-day cricket without also quitting T20 internationals, something he did not want to do with the World Cup coming later this month.
Pietersen apologised via a video released by his media team, but by then news of his rogue texts had emerged and he was quickly dropped from the squad while the ECB decided what to do with him.
His absence undoubtedly hurts England as he is a player of immense talent, But no matter how good you are, the team must come first and his re-appearance in the dressing room may do more harm than good. Certainly punters who bet on cricket are putting their money on his international career coming to an end.
It is now up to Flower to decide whether to recall KP to the squad for the winter tour of India, the latest in a string of tough decisions he has made over the years as England team coach.
Australia cricket betting fans will also be paying close attention, as back-to-back Ashes series await next year, with KP an undoubted match-winner.
Collingwood, who retired from Test cricket last year, has backed his former coach to make the right call for the good of the team.
“Since Flower has come in whatever decision he has made has been for the best interests of the England cricket team,” said the 36-year-old.
“I’ve had a couple of discussions [with England players] but you don’t know until you are in the dressing room what the atmosphere is like.
“There is certainly a possibility that if he [Pietersen] says and does the right things he can drag the situation back. It’s not necessarily the end of his career.”
1. Nicholls Media | September 5, 2012 at 4:19 pm
England have to be strong with KP. no man is bigger than the team. England do however need to sort this out ASAP in order to back to being their best.
Nichollssportblog.wordpress.com/cricket