Even the coach is tired of Pietersen ‘fatigue'

[King]

Peter Moores yesterday became the second member of EnglandÂ’s hierarchy to question Kevin Pietersen’s comments about fatigue, made last week when he was spending a day off on a commercial assignmentMore... Even coach is tired of Pietersen ‘fatigue’ By PAUL NEWMAN - More by this author » Last updated at 23:15pm on 17th July 2007 Comments Peter Moores yesterday became the second member of England's hierarchy to question Kevin Pietersen's comments about fatigue, made last week when he was spending a day off on a commercial assignment. The England coach said that his players trod "a fine line" when balancing sponsors' commitments with the need to rest between matches during a crowded international programme. Day job: Pietersen heads for the nets yesterday Pietersen had complained to Sportsmail that the itinerary had left him exhausted and in desperate need of a break. Moores' comments follow those of chairman of selectors David Graveney, who said at the weekend: "Rest should mean rest. It was unfortunate that Kevin made that comment on a day when he was speaking at a sponsor's launch." The theme was taken up by Moores ahead of tomorrow's first Test against India at Lord's when he said: "I haven't been coach very long but this is something we might have to look at. "We'll be talking to the commercial people to make sure we get the balance right. It's a fine line but one thing I must say is that Kevin is a real hard worker who is always up for each game." Yet Pietersen's agent, Adam Wheatley, insists that England's most high-profile player undertakes less commercial work now than he did when he first emerged on the scene in 2005 and that he is always selective over how much time he devotes to sponsors. Wheatley said: "KP is very careful that nothing impacts on his cricket. The appearance in question was just a couple of hours for Oakley spent conducting interviews in the same place on one of his six days off between international engagements. "In any case, I can't see how anyone can compare the amount of mental and physical preparation and effort that goes into each Test or one-day international with a couple of hours talking on behalf of a sponsor. "Kevin was asked to do something, in common with a few other England players, for a sponsor on Monday but he turned it down because he never likes to do anything during a Test match week. "Some players went but they haven't been questioned. No one from the ECB has made any comments to me about KP's commercial commitments." An England spokesman last night admitted that Team England's "Personal Appearance Plan", which co-ordinates the players commitments with ECB sponsors like npower and Vodafone "might have to be tweaked". At the moment commitments to those sponsors are shared among the players but, inevitably, some are in more demand. Wheatley added: "The reality is that team sponsors always want to see KP, Michael Vaughan or Freddie Flintoff at their functions. "Before now Kevin has been happily undertaking more than his share on behalf of the team but England are planning to rotate them more."

[King]

The England coach said that his players trod "a fine line" when balancing sponsors' commitments with the need to rest between matches during a crowded international programme.

Hmmm.... Pietersen's comments hasn't really been received all too dearly. He's going to be under pressure first time in his career. If he can't put runs on the board after this he's going to find it's not too easy out there. A lot of stars have been there. English media is one of the harshest and get struck into.

[Donny]

This is a tricky one. On the one hand, it's understandable but when one addresses the issue from the viewpoint of a ditch digger or lowly (paid) factory worker or worse, someone who cannot feed their family because they can't get work, it looks rather stupid and petty to hear someone who receives a small fortune to play a game, complaining.

[varun]

This is a tricky one. On the one hand, it's understandable but when one addresses the issue from the viewpoint of a ditch digger or lowly (paid) factory worker or worse, someone who cannot feed their family because they can't get work, it looks rather stupid.

That's life. The amount of work a person puts in is normally inversely proportional to the pay :haha:

[Ram]

"In any case, I can't see how anyone can compare the amount of mental and physical preparation and effort that goes into each Test or one-day international with a couple of hours talking on behalf of a sponsor.

Exactly ! How can they even compare turning up for a sponsor's event/speaking at a public function to a 5 grueling days of 90-over cricket ? Wonder what they mean by players taking rest then ? Settle in couch at home and watch Rowan Atkinson comedies ? I am with Pietersen on this one, simply because a player has no need to complain unnecessarily about " too much cricket" unless he has been genuinely affected. Assuming Pietersen is just playing things up , Can anybody come up with two good reasons why he has to do so ? Players in India have often been forced to play ridiculous amounts of mindless cricket ( The afro-asian cup , one-off match against Pak etc ) and the strain is showing. Injuries and loss of form to some key players in the squad leading to overall dip in performance of the Indian team. Yet seniors like Sachin , Rahul and Kumble have never come forward and spoken a word about it. All they do is bother about their own business. But to be fair to Rahul , he has made the occasional comment about too much cricket being played , only to be re-butted by goat-brained Niranjan Shah. The competitiveness in cricket is falling nowadays , with more and more matches getting pathetically one-sided. The ICC has to realize that 25 days of exciting cricket will bring in/retain more fans than 50 days of boring cricket.

[King]

KP as had his share of rest over the years. I don't quite know how much country cricket he's been playing but since the central contract was put in place they aren't playing day in day out. I guess KP must be speaking for the rest of the folks and not just himself. Let's be honest England had a short ICC trophy tour and also not too long WC tour. If anyone needs complaining it should be Aussie, WI and SL players. They have been playing non stop cricket for a while I think.

[Donny]

Exactly ! How can they even compare turning up for a sponsor's event/speaking at a public function to a 5 grueling days of 90-over cricket ? Wonder what they mean by players taking rest then ? Settle in couch at home and watch Rowan Atkinson comedies ?

Yes. Something like that, mm. I didn't see/read anyone comparing "turning up for a sponsor's event/speaking at a public function to a 5 grueling days of 90-over cricket" The point is: how greedy is a player if on the one hand he complains about not having enough days off and on the other, uses a day off to attend a sponsor's function ? The other point is: how many Test cricketers play "5 grueling days of 90-over cricket" ? A lot of the time, they have their feet up on the balcony.

[Ram]

Yes. Something like that, mm. I didn't see/read anyone comparing "turning up for a sponsor's event/speaking at a public function to a 5 grueling days of 90-over cricket" The point is: how greedy is a player if on the one hand he complains about not having enough days off and on the other, uses a day off to attend a sponsor's function ? The other point is: how many Test cricketers play "5 grueling days of 90-over cricket" ? A lot of the time, they have their feet up on the balcony.

My point is Donny , why would a player complain about " Too much cricket" unless he has been genuinely affected by it ? Now the interesting thing here is , Can any player turn-up frequently and perform at his peak levels ALL the time ? Irrespective of whether he has had rest or not ? Essentially what i am trying to say is , Rest between series does not necessarily mean the player can put out his peak performance again. Its simply difficult to motivate yourself to turn up on the morning of the match and give your best if your mind is already fatigued due to different reasons , irrespective of whether you had two months rest before or not.

[King]

Short of runs in the odi series??? He had a fantastic test series against the WI but in betweeen he has had few low scores. English media can be scathing sometimes even when it's only a meager failure.

[Donny]

Its simply difficult to motivate yourself to turn up on the morning of the match and give your best if your mind is already fatigued due to different reasons ' date=' irrespective of whether you had two months rest before or not.[/quote'] Difficult ? This is what millions and millions of people do, every day.