Kevin Pietersen terms Day-Night Tests a 'joke'
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen doesn't support Day-Night Tests and terms this new development as nothing short of a joke. ICC had ealier announced that 2015 would see the arrival of Day-Night Tests.
Adelaide and Hobart has been suggested as the venues for this new format, that will also feature pink balls. November 2015 has been slated as the introduction of this new development, but KP is certainly not in favour.
The 34-year-old took to social networking site Twitter to express his dissent at Day-Night Tests. And the former cricketer was backed by fans on Twitter, who took to retweeting his thoughts.
Day/night Test cricket - what a joke! Hope all statistics start again then!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) July 1, 2014
Cricket Australia sees Day-Night Tests as a way to increase their revenue. Test matches have failed to attract audiences all over the world, witnessing a steep fall in crowd. And Day-Night format is aimed as a way to increase footfalls, as people can enjoy the five-day game now after office hours.
But KP suggested that too much of cricket being played in a calendar year and rising prices of tickets is the reason behind crowds turning away from the gentleman's game. Pietersen retweeted his fan Nicholas Pope's tweet that gave an idea regarding the phenomenal rise in ticket prices.
@KP24 more expensive than anything. Explain how anyone on an average wage between the ages of 18-30 can justify £90 for a test match seat..
— Simon Bath (@afcw_bubble) July 1, 2014
Public don't watch cos there is too much cricket! And it's expensive! Play less & public will be more interested!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) July 1, 2014
Pietersen also felt that cricketers are being flogged all over the world, which leads to a dip in quality. But replies from fans blamed mushrooming T20 Leagues all over the world as the real culprit for fall in cricket's quality.
Players are being flogged all around the world, all year round! Standard of cricket suffers too!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) July 1, 2014
Pietersen opened the Twitter floor regarding a decision from the fans regarding Day-Night Test matches. You too can join this debate, whether you support KP in going against this new developmet, or think that Day-Night Tests is a boon for cricket.
Here we go - RT for NO d/n Tests and favourite if you'd like d/n Tests? This is the PUBLIC'S OPINION...
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) July 1, 2014
After England's 5-0 mauling at the hands of rivals Australia in the Ashes, head coach Andy Flower was shownn the exit door. Averaging only 29, Pietersen also had failed to impress in the series, but nevertheless England's highes scorer with 294 runs. On February 4 this year, ECB decided to axe Pietersen for their tour of West Indies.
The decision hinted at the end of Pietersen's career, that was already marked with several tiff with the ECB. And he didn't want to continue any further after this incident. He released a statement that confirmed his exit from international cricket. After having scored 8181 Test runs and 4440 ODI runs, KP hung his boots, albeit not in the best way possible for a cricketer of his stature. He was then snapped up for US $1.5 million by Indian Premier League side Delhi Daredevils and currently plies his trade for them as their captain.
Pietersen is also set to feature for Rest of the World XI in a 50-over match against MCC XI, on occasion of Lord's Bicentenary year (200 years) on July 5 at the Mecca of cricket. Rest of the World XI will be captained by Shane Warne and will also feature KP and Muttiah Muralitharan. They will be up against MCC XI led by Sachin Tendullkar and also featuring Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Saeed Ajmal and Aaron Finch.