It's Tough Being Me - The Kevin Pietersen Story

[Jono]

Originally Posted by social

Shane Warne abused a team member on live tv and the coach every time he got the chance

Half of Richard Hadlee's team wouldnt speak to him for extended periods

Don Bradman was despised by many of his teammates

David Campese - ****

Wally Lewis - ****

Greg Norman - ****

Nick Faldo - ****

Romario - ****

I could go on and name 100 more examples if you like of sportsmen who werent liked by team mates but were picked because they got the the job done

For whatever reason, England are trying to rewrite the criteria by which sportsmen are selected and it has already cost them the world no. 1 test and odi rankings

Idiots

I disagree with you but most of what you say is not unreasonable and its fair enough to have that view.

But to say that England cost themselves #1 because of how they handled KP is just a completely false statement with no basis at all. They lost the first test with him before any of the locker room scandal stuff really blew up, and importantly, they lost a bucket load of tests in Asia and the Middle East before this **** too.

[marc71178]

Ha ha, yet more bollocks.

England lost the number 1 spot in ODI's because of KP? The same spot they got without him?
They lost the number 1 spot in Test's because of KP? Bull**** even by your standards.

There's a difference between no being liked by team-mates (and obviously some of those you've named really needed to get on with their team-mates when they competed in individual sports) and being employed and paid very handsomely then breaking all sorts of moral and contractual obligations.

[Spikey]

Originally Posted by Jono

I disagree with you but most of what you say is not unreasonable and its fair enough to have that view.

that said Symonds was a drunk who clearly let it affect the team's performance. KP and most of the others on the list are dicks. That's a pretty huge difference and I don't see any real comparison between the two. Not that social himself drew the comparison.

[wpdavid]

Why is Social pretending that KP got dropped simply because his team-mates don't like him?

[ganeshran]

Originally Posted by wpdavid

Why is Social pretending that KP got dropped simply because his team-mates don't like him?

Wasnt he treated differently?

Swann wasnt fined for the comments in his autobiography yet KP was fined for his rant against Nick Knight.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by ganeshran

Wasnt he treated differently?

Swann wasnt fined for the comments in his autobiography yet KP was fined for his rant against Nick Knight.

Which of Swann's comments should have got him fined? Genuine question, as I haven't read the book.

Agreed that KP shouldn't have been fined for his comments about Knight, unless there's some contractual; angle that I've forgotten.

None of which is terribly relevant to KP being dropped anyway.

[AlanJLegend]

KP has certainly put England in a tough spot.

If feelings towards him in the dressing room are really as negative towards him as the media makes them out to be (which I doubt) then they can't really bring him back in. But the way he is playing, they are really giving themselves the short end of the stick by omitting him.

[social]

Originally Posted by marc71178

Ha ha, yet more bollocks.

England lost the number 1 spot in ODI's because of KP? The same spot they got without him?
They lost the number 1 spot in Test's because of KP? Bull**** even by your standards.

There's a difference between no being liked by team-mates (and obviously some of those you've named really needed to get on with their team-mates when they competed in individual sports) and being employed and paid very handsomely then breaking all sorts of moral and contractual obligations.

To attain the no.1 ranking takes years, not a couple of matches and KP contributed as much, if not more than anybody to get them there.

Unfortunately, losing it came down to one match in both and look at the teams Eng trotted out!

If you dont think that one of the best players in the world in those formats could've got them across the line then there isnt much hope for you

FYI, golf has team competitions, none of those guys were liked by the vast majority and all got picked every single time

Why?

Because winning golf is about getting the ball in the hole in the fewest shots not about who gets on with you

Where was this strict adherence to contractrual obligations when Strauss opted out of the Bangladesh tour?

Where was Endland's moral compass when Swann shafted team-mates in his autobiography?

It's a joke

[ganeshran]

Originally Posted by wpdavid

Which of Swann's comments should have got him fined? Genuine question, as I haven't read the book.

Agreed that KP shouldn't have been fined for his comments about Knight, unless there's some contractual; angle that I've forgotten.

None of which is terribly relevant to KP being dropped anyway.

He criticized KP's captaincy and Samit Patel in the book. My point was that KP has always been given the short end of the stick when it comes to enforcing rules, while other team mates have been treated with more consideration for similar offences.

That doesn't change the fact that KP has been a **** and has mostly himself to blame for the his current predicament, but it does show that ECB's stepmotherly attitude towards him could have been a factor in his decision making.

[Spark]

That Nick Knight thing was kind of odd, it's not like KP was the first to quite publicly express his disaste of Knight (though KP was by far the most vocal)

[uvelocity]

everyone hates nick knight and getting drunk is awesome

in fact im halfway there aws

[benchmark00]

Originally Posted by uvelocity

everyone hates nick knight and getting drunk is awesome

in fact im halfway there aws

Richard doesn't.

[L Trumper]

Originally Posted by Jono

I disagree with you but most of what you say is not unreasonable and its fair enough to have that view.

But to say that England cost themselves #1 because of how they handled KP is just a completely false statement with no basis at all. They lost the first test with him before any of the locker room scandal stuff really blew up, and importantly, they lost a bucket load of tests in Asia and the Middle East before this **** too.

It is not just about costing themselves #1. English cricket in general has this systematic urge to remove any player who doesn't follow some kind of team code even though it is pretty clear that it is stupid to drop one of the best players in sake of team harmony. They are doing it for 100+ years. It never worked for the team or the player. You can list from Barnes till KP every generation has couple of players like this and it keeps on happening forever.

[Stumpcam]

Originally Posted by L Trumper

It is not just about costing themselves #1. English cricket in general has this systematic urge to remove any player who doesn't follow some kind of team code even though it is pretty clear that it is stupid to drop one of the best players in sake of team harmony. They are doing it for 100+ years. It never worked for the team or the player. You can list from Barnes till KP every generation has couple of players like this and it keeps on happening forever.

Hmmm, what's that saying about pride coming before?

[Faizal Khan]

If KP is not selected for India series, will he commentate for ESPNStar during the series (ESPNStar handles the home series for India on Indian TV)?

He will already handle WorldT20 duties.