Saturday 28 June 2014

No tears for troubled Cook and ECB

READING Kevin Pietersen’s column in the Telegraph this morning, you ask yourself why he is not still part of the English cricket team.

Here is a man forced out of his role in the team not because of injury, loss of form or suspension but simply for being ‘not the right sort’ wanted in the new Team England.

Yet the article lays bare everything wrong with the current set up and actually, considering how disgracefully he was disposed with, he is quite supportive of Cook.

For those who think it’s a smear against the current set up, ask yourself this: why does Pietersen say ‘the same old negative stuff’? He recognises the efforts to move on from the Flower/Fletcher regime.

Cook’s captaincy is criticised but even then Pietersen attempts to be supportive when he says he can understand the reasons for the tactics to Matthews.

But he does hit the nail on the head when he suggests some of the senior players are struggling to offer leadership in the dressing room.

Because that is the biggest problem facing English cricket, Pietersen was willing to criticise the leadership on tour and was ostracised for it.

When it was all going wrong for England on Monday at Headingley, how many times did you see senior pros in Cook’s ear suggesting something different? Not many I fancy.

In keeping his job after a 5-0 whitewash, getting rid of Pietersen and being described as the ‘right sort of person’ to lea England, Cook has created a climate of fear.

People like Broad and Anderson probably don’t want to speak out now for fear of losing their England careers – if it happened to KP it can happen to them.

There is a climate now where you cannot criticise Cook, see his comments about ‘something needing to be done’ about Shane Warne.

The Aussie’s comments are strong yes but I am sure he said far worse from 22 yards away when trying to get a batsman out!

Yet there seems to be no one in Cook’s ear saying, sod the critics, shut them up by going out and getting a bucket load of runs.

Because in this situation of Cook’s and the ECB’s making, the criticism will only get louder and louder while the captain can’t get a run and England don’t win cricket games.

I think it’s already too late though, Cook looks finished and should England lose the test, ODI and t20 series against India he should go.

If he stays he might have to answer more criticism when KP bares all in October…..

No comments:

Post a Comment