England 2012 Cricket Thread

[hilts_coolerking]

Not entirely.  IPL attendances may be down but it's still massively popular - as are ODIs and T20 ODIs - much more so than Tests, over there.

It may be a case of them fiddling with the format to find out how many games the market will bear.  They tried a similar thing over here last season with more games but found out they'd reached saturation point so decided to trim the tournament back.  But it's still attended by more people than any other form of domestic cricket here, by miles.

[PaulWinch again]

Bottom line is that the ICC need to look at how Test cricket is marketed, funded and organised. I love it, but only because I'm a purist and in England it is the most important thing. It's dying a death because the authorities have become complacent with its format and its pricing. It needs a big overhaul and Test series need to be given much more of a context. Their Test championship idea has now been delayed so it's pointless. The authorities are really letting the game down.

[PaulWinch again]

So sounds like KP is pissed off about a Twitter parody account that he believes people in the England dressing room have set up. I'm in two minds about this, I think if it's true then it's out of order mocking a team mate on a social forum. Conversely I think maybe he should just not be too fussed by it.

[spangley1812]

So sounds like KP is pissed off about a Twitter parody account that he believes people in the England dressing room have set up. I'm in two minds about this, I think if it's true then it's out of order mocking a team mate on a social forum. Conversely I think maybe he should just not be too fussed by it.

Mate he has to grow up im afraid.......He is on there all the time so "if you live by the sword then you die by the sword"

[PaulWinch again]

Oh and if it isn't them he's annoyed that some of them are following the tweeter. Again on the one hand they probably shouldn't condone the mocking, but he needs to take things a little less seriously. I guess it depends how the tweets are read out, if it's a genuine joke then he should laugh it off. However if it's a bit more sinister then I can understand him being pissed off.

[paul_e]

Someone has mentioned that it's in new zealand, that's not right, the series that causes the problems is the return tests that are in england in late May.  The series should have all been in new zealand, I can only think they split it like this because it was scheduled too late in the New Zealand season.  If that's right (of which I'm fairly sure) the cause is a ridiculous tour to India to play an ODI series in January.

We then have a full summer with the champions trophy and the ashes and I'm not sure how valuable 2 tests and a bunch of ODIs against the NZ reserves are in the build up to that.

Don't get me wrong, KP is being an idiot, but the response from the ECB which is effectively causing our biggest game changer to retire from internationals in his prime, is heavy handed and badly thought out.

[PaulWinch again]

So sounds like KP is pissed off about a Twitter parody account that he believes people in the England dressing room have set up. I'm in two minds about this, I think if it's true then it's out of order mocking a team mate on a social forum. Conversely I think maybe he should just not be too fussed by it.

Mate he has to grow up im afraid.......He is on there all the time so "if you live by the sword then you die by the sword"

Yes totally but at the same time, he doesn't belittle his team mates on there or retweet people who mock his teammates. So I can understand his annoyance a bit. If he mocked England players on Twitter or he retweeted people who did he wouldn't have a leg to stand on, but he doesn't.

[spangley1812]

So sounds like KP is pissed off about a Twitter parody account that he believes people in the England dressing room have set up. I'm in two minds about this, I think if it's true then it's out of order mocking a team mate on a social forum. Conversely I think maybe he should just not be too fussed by it.

Mate he has to grow up im afraid.......He is on there all the time so "if you live by the sword then you die by the sword"

Yes totally but at the same time, he doesn't belittle his team mates on there or retweet people who mock his teammates. So I can understand his annoyance a bit. If he mocked England players on Twitter or he retweeted people who did he wouldn't have a leg to stand on, but he doesn't.

I would agree he doesnt belittle team mates but he has his say on most other things, sports, events so he sets himself up for people to have a go at him back

[Villan For Life]

KP has never appeared to be universally popular amongst his teamates, the coaches and the powers that be within the ECB. You only have to look at how he was left out on a limb over the captaincy/Moores saga to see another example of his teamates closing ranks.

KP should have been the best batsman in the world for the last 5 years. He has the talent but I can't help think that he has not fulfilled his potential.  So near and yet so far. For every innings like his knock last weekend there are countless innings where he threw his wicket away in a moment of madness.

Time to jettison him, we've coped without him before, Ashes 2009, he is an unstabling influence in the dressing room.

[spangley1812]

Someone has mentioned that it's in new zealand, that's not right, the series that causes the problems is the return tests that are in england in late May.  The series should have all been in new zealand, I can only think they split it like this because it was scheduled too late in the New Zealand season.  If that's right (of which I'm fairly sure) the cause is a ridiculous tour to India to play an ODI series in January.

We then have a full summer with the champions trophy and the ashes and I'm not sure how valuable 2 tests and a bunch of ODIs against the NZ reserves are in the build up to that.

Don't get me wrong, KP is being an idiot, but the response from the ECB which is effectively causing our biggest game changer to retire from internationals in his prime, is heavy handed and badly thought out.

I suspect all the ODI's are to prepare the team for the Champions Trophy but these dates have been set for @ least 6 months so its "hardly" forcing KP's hand

[Lsvilla]

The ECB is KP's employer - the TCCB did not employ the rebels of the 70's / 80's but merely paid them a match fee when selected so their scheming to secure a better financial deal elsewhere is understandable, regardless of what one thinks of the politics of what they were doing.
I would challenge anyone to tell their employer they want two months off work from a boring contract (NZ at home - when several of their 'names' are off playing IPL) to freelance for someone else, before returning for a nice juicy summer job (an ashes series) and get a positive reaction.
Beyond this issue, KP has plenty of previous, going back to his time as captain and the demise of Moores, the early return from the World Cup last year 24 hours after Flower stated his injury was manageable and he would be seeing the tournament out, are two that immediately spring to mind. He has managed to fall out with every team he has been a part of (Jason Gallian chucking his kit out of the window at Notts).
I love watching him bat, and have marvelled at his play many times - I saw him go some way to winning the World T20 on his own in 2010, was in Colombo in April and at Headingley last Saturday to name a few, but the England management must win this dispute for the good of English cricket and if he doesn't play again in a test match for England then so be it - the team will move on and next July when they take the field at Trent Bridge against the Aussies he will be the loser.
if he is selected at Lords next Thursday I would not be surprised if the crowd reaction is not without dissenters when he walks out to bat. 

[Chris Smith]

 KP says "It's tough being me and playing for England, it's tough."

Bollocks, tough is stuff like Petrov is having to go through not having people take the piss on the Internet.

Precious twat.

[PaulWinch again]

This Pietersen stuff has all gone very quiet, I'm slightly surprised.

[tomd2103]

the England management must win this dispute for the good of English cricket and if he doesn't play again in a test match for England then so be it - the team will move on and next July when they take the field at Trent Bridge against the Aussies he will be the loser.

Couldn't agree more.   The England management have to deal with this firmly and if Pietersen never plays for England again then so be it.  We have a group of young talented players waiting for an opportunity at test level  and I would have no problems with one of them replacing him.

On a seperate note, I see Chris Woakes scored 92 for the England Lions against Australia 'A' the other day.  Surely he has to come into the reckoning as a batting bowler at some point?

[spangley1812]

This Pietersen stuff has all gone very quiet, I'm slightly surprised.

Have u seen this Paul.........

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2186278/Kevin-Pietersen-sent-text-messages-South-African-rivals-second-Test.html