Anti-Flower rant led to Kevin Pietersen's downfall

The lonely walk

Kevin Pietersen‘s eventual sacking by the England Cricket Board, was the aftermath of a crisis meeting that was held within the England squad, which culminated in a showdown between the player and coach Andy Flower.

The Telegraph has exclusively revealed, that an emergency meeting of players was called on the 30th of December, which should ideally have been the 5th day of the Fourth Ashes Test, by captain Alistair Cook and vice-captain Matt Prior without the knowledge of the coaching staff.

In the meeting, the squad agreed of the over-reliance on the guidance provided by Andy Flower rather than forging their own path, which has been termed as a schoolmaster-pupil relationship.

In the very same meeting, Pietersen who had been persuaded by his own misinterpretation of the meeting had embarked on an anti-Flower rant. The situation was misjudged by KP, who thought that the players were accusing the head coach for being overly perspective, while the actual point of the players was that the coach has been paternalistic.

The players then told Pietersen that they had to take more responsibility for their on field debacle, and this meeting was aimed towards the same and was not a witch-hunt of sorts against Flower. Pietersen had a fallout with Flower way back in January 2009, during the sacking of Peter Moores.

When the news reached Flower, he demanded an explanation from the star batsman, with whom he spoke in the latter’s hotel room in Sydney. This is when the strained relation between the two reached boiling point.

Flower then enquired about whether his coaching methods were the problem from the rest of the players who were present in that meeting, to which he received a positive reply.

Paul Downton, the head of ECB, linked up with the squad for the first time around the very same time, in Syndey in New Year’s Eve.

Downton met Flower for his tour debrief, when he was made aware of the recent development regarding Pietersen, and this helped in his hardened attitude towards the batsman. Downton, who has previously been a neutral, held meeting with senior player in Australia, the coaching staff and Cook before the eventual sacking of Pietersen this past week, a news which has sparked a nationwide debate.