England effectively retires Kevin Pietersen from international cricket

[Switchblade]

Exceptions can be made when Ahem Ahem wants it.:winky: I would love to see him play for SA and screw england.

We need him too considering the way we play overseas hope he makes it happen :haha:

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Pietersen 'so sad' after England career ends http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/61645/pietersen-so-sad-after-england-career-ends Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen expressed sadness over the end of his international career on Wednesday and said that he was "incredibly overwhelmed" by the support he had received. The 33-year-old's days as an international cricketer came to an end on Tuesday when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it had "unanimously" decided to move forward without him. With England due to name their squads for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies and the World Twenty20 on Thursday, the ECB's new managing director, Paul Downton, elected to make a decisive call on Pietersen's future. Pietersen posted a picture on photo-sharing website Instagram of himself leaving the field after his final Test match against Australia in Sydney during England's recent 5-0 Ashes defeat. He wrote: "So sad that this will now be the last time I leave a field in an England shirt. "Incredibly overwhelmed by the support overnight! Thank you so much. I love England and I honestly hope they have every success in the future." Meanwhile, Pietersen's wife, British pop star Jessica Taylor, took to Twitter to criticise former England bowler Dominic Cork for claiming that Pietersen had clashed with captain Alastair Cook during the Australia tour. "Dominic Cork - there was no 'squaring up' to Alastair Cook or 'off-field antics' in Australia - you are lying, plain & simple," she wrote. She later added: "Regurgitating rumour & spinning it as fact is not what I'd call responsible journalism. The public deserve so much better - the truth." Cork had told Sky Sports News that there was "nearly a dust-up, a fight" between Pietersen and Cook, but former England captain Michael Vaughan rubbished his claims. "With the way England were playing I am sure players had lots of strong debate in the Dressing Room," Vaughan wrote on Twitter. "But squaring up??? #Nonsense." With 13,797 runs to his name, Pietersen bows out as England's all-time leading scorer across all formats of the game. However, his outspoken personality and on-pitch single-mindedness made him a polarising figure, with former England players divided in their reactions to the news of his axing. Vaughan wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Pietersen's sacking was "preposterous", but former fast bowler Bob Willis said that he had "disrupted every single dressing room he's been in". Pietersen's one-time adversary Shane Warne, the former Australia spinner, branded the decision to end his international career "a disgrace". "I also just heard the sad news re KP that he has played his last game for England, to me it's a disgrace & a joke! The ECB is in a shambles," Warne wrote on Twitter. While former team-mate Matthew Hoggard accepted that Pietersen was not the most popular member of the England camp, he felt that a way to harness his flamboyant talents should have been found. When it was put to him that Pietersen had no friends within the England squad, Hoggard told BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday: "I'm sure that not the case. I'm sure there's one or two. "But they're team-mates; you don't have to be friends to play cricket together." Speaking on Tuesday, Pietersen said that the end of his England career was something that he would "deeply regret", but vowed that he would continue to play domestic cricket. Pietersen's exit is the latest chapter in the damaging fall-out from the Australia tour for England, after head coach Andy Flower resigned, spinner Graeme Swann retired, and batsman Jonathan Trott had to leave the squad with a stress-related illness.

[adi B]

KP should take a piss infront of the ECB office gate

[Dravid]

ECB is run by clowns.You just threw out your best batsman.

pretty much.. back to **** ol days for them

[zakk]

:(( ECB :hitler: KP, ipl welcomes you you are most powerful overseas player. as impact full as our big players :cheer:

[Crookbond]

I find it difficult to remember an England jubilation without Kevin involved - World T20, India Test Series, Ashes 2005 etc. The way it has ended so amicably implies a deal cut between Pietersen-ECB. What is it about South Africans playing for England? Greig, Smith, Lamb and now KP.

[vvvslaxman]

:cantstop:

[Switchblade]

Anti-Flower rant led to Pietersen's sacking http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/61660/anti-flower-rant-led-to-pietersens-sacking England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it had "unanimously" decided to move forward without Kevin Pietersen and according to reports, a crisis meeting after the Melbourne Test set in motion a chain of events which eventually led to the board's decision. According to The Telegraph, England's captain and vice-captain - Alastair Cook and Matt Prior - had called for an emergency team meeting after the Boxing Day Test without the knowledge of the training staff. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Andy Flower's coaching methods as the players felt they were relying heavily on the coach for inputs. At this meeting, Pietersen assumed that the players were accusing the head coach and started an anti-Flower rant. This surprised and shocked many of the England team-members, who told Pietersen that the reason for the meeting was not to blame Flower but to figure out how to take responsibility for their actions. Flower, who got to know of the meeting, called Pietersen to his hotel room in Sydney and had a heated conversation with the batsman and the simmering tension between the coach and the player blew up. Flower later asked the players if they had a problem with his coaching methods and was told that they did not have any issues. ECB director Paul Downton, who was with the squad for the final Test in Sydney, learnt about what had happened during the tour debrief with Flower. Downton also spoke to the senior players and the coaching staff in Australia, before coming up with the decision to sack Pietersen. Piers Morgan, who came out in support of Pietersen on twitter, accused Prior of back-stabbing. According to Morgan, Prior had "slaughtered" Flower while addressing the team meeting before speaking to the coach about the meet. Prior responded to Morgan's comments by tweeting: "I don't do this PR, spinning media rubbish but I refuse to be attacked by a bloke that knows very little about what goes on in the England set-up apart from rumour, gossip and hearsay from certain individuals (most of whom I'd take with a pinch of salt!!)." "Maybe I was recorded or 'hacked' but if not I'd like to see where these words I apparently said have come from? I'm not the kind of person to divulge what is said in team meetings but all I will say is that Flower, Cook and the rest of my team-mates know exactly what I said & the way in which it was meant! "There is no story here just an attempt to knock someone who has only ever had the team's best interests at heart and tried my best on and off the field to help the England cricket team. I can hold my head up high in that knowledge," Prior wrote on twitter. Meanwhile, Graeme Swann, who announced his retirement midway during the Ashes, said Pietersen was at his best behaviour during the tour Down Under and called his attitude exceptional. In a column for Sun, Swann wrote: "He made a huge effort to improve his attitude around the dressing room. I saw or heard no issues with him in Australia this winter, his approach was exceptional. That's why I was baffled on Tuesday when he was effectively sacked as an England player." "Looking back, I could have understood if Kevin's career with England had finished after 'textgate'. But to go through the reintegration process and then, just 15 months later, discard him for good seems very strange. "Clearly, Kevin must have upset people enough for the England hierarchy to decide he is no longer wanted. Don't forget, we're not talking about a middling player here -- we're talking about a batsman of sublime talent. As I say, I saw nothing while I was on the Ashes tour. His approach was spot-on," Swann mentioned.

[cric_fan]

Bunch of c o c k s

[yoda]

blessing in disguise, his career is anyway almost over, time to rack up some retirement money.

[special K]

ECB sacked KP because they wanted to show some mercy for India when they tour later this summer. You minnows will still be whitewashed.

[hhunaeh]

A tale of cowardice and backstabbing to distract you from India's woes in new zealand. england :hysterical::hysterical: http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/current/story/716851.html

Andy Flower blamed Kevin Pietersen for a players' revolt in Australia against his intense coaching style and, even before he accepted his own resignation was inevitable, became adamant that Pietersen would play no further part in the England side. Flower's determination to rid the team of Pietersen was only partly justified by events and owed much to memories of how Pietersen had already brought down a previous England coach, Peter Moores, five years earlier. The outcome was spectacularly similar. Back in 2009, Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, sacked Moores as coach and Pietersen was forced to stand down from the captaincy he had held for only a few months. On this occasion, Paul Downton, in his first week in the job as Morris' successor, forced a conclusion in which Flower - his views on Pietersen made abundantly clear - resigned as team director with his reputation unimpaired and Pietersen was discarded from the England set-up forever. The ECB hierarchy has always suspected Pietersen as a potential agitator and will protect the authority of senior figures ahead of all other considerations. Pietersen, not for the first time, spectacularly misread the players' mood after Alastair Cook and Matt Prior, England's captain and vice-captain, called a meeting, without the knowledge of the coaching staff, on the redundant final day of the Melbourne Test after England had gone 4-0 down in the series. As ESPNcricinfo reported at the time, concerns were growing that that Flower's coaching methods were too suffocating, and having a detrimental effect on performance. The meeting, as perceived by Cook and Prior, was a well-meaning attempt to redress the balance, in which players took more responsibility for their own actions. The absence of England's swollen backroom staff was intended to give players a chance to speak freely about what they felt was a growing predicament. Reports in the Telegraph suggest that Pietersen then "embarked upon an anti-Flower rant". The tone of his remarks shocked many players, who had no wish to overthrow Flower and many felt guilty about the meeting as a result. It was not long before Flower heard about what had occurred - and it was not long before he summoned Pietersen to his hotel room in Sydney to accuse him of unacceptable behaviour and undermining his authority, and that of the captain, Cook, during a highly-fraught exchange. Pietersen had been agitating about Flower's severe management style for some time and was known to be hopeful that Ashley Giles, the one-day coach, would encourage a more relaxed environment. Flower, hurt by events, also asked senior players about the purpose of their confidential, clear-the-air meeting and about the extent of their dissatisfaction with his coaching style. At that point, the sound of sheepish backtracking could be heard from players who for all their misgivings retained deep respect for Flower's integrity, drive and concern for their welfare. Any imaginings Pietersen had that he could stoke a wider rebellion were proved to be illusory. His lack of empathy with the general mood, which tends to be consumed by his own ego, has previously been suggested as a tragic character trait that has repeatedly cost him. An unseemly spat on Twitter has now revealed the sense among some Pietersen's closest allies that he has been left as the fall guy for a situation he did not engineer. The chief source of their bitterness is Prior, who they asserted had "stabbed Pietersen in the back", accusing him of withdrawing his criticism that Flower was behaving like a school head teacher when Flower pressed him directly on the subject. Prior responded furiously on Twitter, needing a series of tweets to get his point across. "I am not the kind of person to divulge what is said in team meetings, but all I will say is that Flower, Cook and the rest of my team-mates know exactly what I said and the way in which it was meant," he wrote. "There is no story here, just an attempt to knock someone who has only ever had the team's interests at heart and tried my best on and off the field to help the England cricket team. I can hold my head up high in that knowledge." Tim Bresnan became the first England player to back up Prior's insistence that his comments had been measured and non-rebellious. "I was in that TEAM meeting and @MattPrior13 said nothing wrong," he tweeted. "And only ever has the TEAM'S best interests at heart. Undeserved criticism." Pietersen, who ironically had never felt himself more welcome in the England environment, nevertheless was stunned at how events gathered such pace that his England career collapsed before him. He had become the victim of a very English revolution.

[Sachin=GOD]

The Joy of Six: Kevin Pietersen http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/feb/21/joy-of-six-kevin-pietersen fantastic read.

[Chalks]

Three giants of the game - SRT, Kallis and KP - gone from international cricket* in the space of barely three months. * Yes I know Jacques will probably still be playing ODIs and T20Is, but you get my drift. KP was a bit like the Nigel Mansell of cricket (though Mansell was a born-and-bred Englishman) - something was always happening, and you couldn't take your eyes off him. - As Mansell would pull off incredible race victories, so would KP play masterpieces that would lead to famous England victories. - As Mansell would have a falling out with teammates (Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost, to name but two), and team principals (Peter Warr, Frank Williams, and Ron Dennis, to name but three), so would KP (Strauss, Cook, Moores, and Flower). - As Mansell would finally win a Formula 1 world championship (which he then backed up the following year by winning the Indycar series), so did KP win England the World T20, and play a major role in several Ashes victories. and finally - As Mansell would make a final exit from F1 in a shroud of controversy (when he was too big to fit into the McLaren), so would KP exit international cricket. Both polarised opinion, depending on whether you loved or loathed them.

[SLICKR392]

' HIJACK '