Almost the end for Pietersen?

[dangermows]

Sky sports this morning were suggesting the South Africa series could be his last.

Apparently he will be left out of the T20 squad and they have reached no agreement over the ODI situation. It was then suggested that he has asked to be left out of the test series in New Zealand to free up time to play IPL.

His central contract runs out this September and we may then move on without him and he'd go on as a free lance cricketer.

Disaster if true.

 

[The Lambton Worm]

I would love to see him get dropped from the test squad and then not be picked for the IPL.

 

[safcdccc]

As long as he doesn't worm his way back into the 1 day setup. He made his choice.

 

[Mackem00]

Sky sports this morning were suggesting the South Africa series could be his last.

Apparently he will be left out of the T20 squad and they have reached no agreement over the ODI situation. It was then suggested that he has asked to be left out of the test series in New Zealand to free up time to play IPL.

His central contract runs out this September and we may then move on without him and he'd go on as a free lance cricketer.

Disaster if true.

Slight exaggeration mind.

 

[dangermows]

Slight exaggeration mind.

Fair point

A great shame would have been a better phrase.

Such a telent and Id be gutted if he wasn't around for test cricket (the limited overs stuff I dont really care for) as he can light up a game single handedly.

If he has said he wants to miss the New Zealand tour then I take my defence of him back as he said he wanted to withdraw from ODI cricket to lengthen his test career.

I would love to see him get dropped from the test squad and then not be picked for the IPL.

We'd be a worse Test side without him so I can't see why you'd want that.

 

[Steak Pie]

I would love to see him get dropped from the test squad and then not be picked for the IPL.

2nd best average in the tournament this year, not much chance of that.

 

[The Lambton Worm]

We'd be a worse Test side without him so I can't see why you'd want that.

It was reported on talkSport yesterday evening that he'd asked to be excluded from the NZ tour. He can take a long walk off a short pier for all I'm bothered.

His ego is starting to get in the way of his commitment to England in all forms of the game. Get shot of him and start giving others a prolonged chance to establish themselves in the test team. What's the point of selecting someone to replace him for the NZ tour, who has a cracking series and then saying sorry son, but the ego is back and you're out. Talk about kicking someone in the balls.

Fuck him. We'll be a better team without him in the long run.

2nd best average in the tournament this year, not much chance of that.

If Carlsberg did.........

The IPL & The Ego are perfect bedmates mind.

 

[Aidan11]

Can't fault his contribution to the test team though.

Three double centuries.

Having said that, I was always wary of KP as he was always a right prima donna.

Once had an argument with Jason Gallian at Notts where Gallian threw his kit out of the dressing room window.

England are a strong side now and we can go forward without him.

 

[dangermows]

It was reported on talkSport yesterday evening that he'd asked to be excluded from the NZ tour. He can take a long walk off a short pier for all I'm bothered.

His ego is starting to get in the way of his commitment to England in all forms of the game. Get shot of him and start giving others a prolonged chance to establish themselves in the test team. What's the point of selecting someone to replace him for the NZ tour, who has a cracking series and then saying sorry son, but the ego is back and you're out. Talk about kicking someone in the balls.

Fuck him. We'll be a better team without him in the long run.

I mentioned that in the OP. And if that is the case, he is a knacker and it needs nipping in the bud. Like I said, I defended his stance on the ODI stuff (because I dont care for the rounders versions of the game) because he said it was to prolong his test career. May be he is full of shit afterall.....

However, wanting him dropped is a different matter all together. He is easily our best batsman and Id prefer to have our best players playing for us, which was my point.

 

[chelt_mackem]

Fair point

A great shame would have been a better phrase.

Such a telent and Id be gutted if he wasn't around for test cricket (the limited overs stuff I dont really care for) as he can light up a game single handedly.

If he has said he wants to miss the New Zealand tour then I take my defence of him back as he said he wanted to withdraw from ODI cricket to lengthen his test career.



We'd be a worse Test side without him so I can't see why you'd want that.

I don't see why the ECB are so afraid of keeping Pietersen happy all the time and seem to want to bend over backwards to make it happen. Regardless of what they do with his decision to "come out of retirement" for the limited overs game, they need to renew his contract at the very least for the test game. We've got a huge series in India, the tour of New Zealand and then back to back Ashes series that we need him for.

At least if we've got him contracted to the national side there's a degree of control over what he does. If he throws a hissy fit over having to fulfil his contract obligations by playing in New Zealand, so be it. His ego won't like the idea of missing out on the Ashes by 'retiring' from test cricket just so he can earn a few quid playing in a pointless tournament in India, so he'll have to continue with the tour with it in mind that a 'retirement' stunt wouldn't work twice (there's no guarantee it'll work once).

It would be mildly amusing if he was then selected as 12th man in order to give some of the younger lads a chance but also keep him away from the IPL, but obviously that won't happen.

As good a player as he is, we've got to stop treating him like he's indispensable, because he's starting to take the piss by trying to pick and choose when he plays for his country.

 

[Mainze]

England's loss.

He probably pick up £2m a year from a couple of T20 tournaments, not a bad lifestyle.

 

[The Lambton Worm]

However, wanting him dropped is a different matter all together. He is easily our best batsman and Id prefer to have our best players playing for us, which was my point.

I take your point, and agree with it, but no-one is bigger than the team. Not even his ego.

As good a player as he is, we've got to stop treating him like he's indispensable, because he's starting to take the piss by trying to pick and choose when he plays for his country.

This.

 

[chelt_mackem]

I take your point, and agree with it, but no-one is bigger than the team. Not even his ego.

This is the thing that's worrying me about the stance the ECB seem prepared to take, at least as far as we can tell. If they let him make demands like this, what kind of message does it send out to the next young talent with a bit of an ego? Even if it means putting our chances of retaining the Ashes next year at risk by dropping him, this is the kind of message that needs putting out there now.

I'd much rather see a player like Bairstow or Taylor in the team, young and hungry for success and proud to represent their country even if they have a bad series, than have Pietersen there swanning around and acting like he's doing the team a favour.

 

[Marko]

This is the thing that's worrying me about the stance the ECB seem prepared to take, at least as far as we can tell. If they let him make demands like this, what kind of message does it send out to the next young talent with a bit of an ego? Even if it means putting our chances of retaining the Ashes next year at risk by dropping him, this is the kind of message that needs putting out there now.

I'd much rather see a player like Bairstow or Taylor in the team, young and hungry for success and proud to represent their country even if they have a bad series, than have Pietersen there swanning around and acting like he's doing the team a favour.

Agree with this. We can't let him set a precedence or all the players will be trying it. For me Strauss, Cook, Trott, Bell, Bopara? Morgan? Taylor? with Prior at 7 is a stronger batting line up than most countries have at present anyway.

Our teams not weak enough for Pietersen to make himself into the English Chris Gayle.