Leaked! A 'dossier' on Kevin Pietersen's behaviour during Ashes? ECB says it's 'not what has been suggested'
The plot around Kevin Pietersen’s thickens has gotten murkier (if that was still possible) with a ‘dossier’ on the former England batsman being made public by ESPNCricinfo today.
What dossier?
When Pietersen was sacked following the disastrous Ashes tour Down Under, there were rumours of a ‘dossier’ made on the batsman, which noted all his misdemeanours during the tour, making the case of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) strong to go ahead with the sacking.
In his upcoming autobiography, Pietersen says that he was made aware of the document soon after the end of the Ashes, but prefers to term it as an ‘imaginary dossier’.
Made public now, this ‘dossier’, more than anything else, clearly shows the gap between the management and the player and the general lack of faith and communation between each other.
Contents of the dossier
The 5-page document, titled STRICTLY PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL, and dated September 22, 2014, is apparently prepared by ECB’s legal team and lists the incidents during the Ashes tour which led to ECB sacking the batsman.
Depending on which side you prefer to back, these may seem either strong enough or petty incidents. Here are a few points raised against Kevin Pietersen (KP):
1. Upon arrival in Adelaide for the Second Test, AF (Andy Flower) gave express instructions to players not to stay out late and not to give the scandal?voracious press any ammunition, which KP immediately disobeyed by taking out two young players drinking with him until late (an incident which was front page news in the Adelaide press the following day).
2. Prior to the Perth Test, an England team physiotherapist approached AF (Andy Flower) to inform AF that KP had told him that KP was looking to do anything to go home after the Perth Test if England lost the match to go 3?0 down. KP allegedly told the physio that if England lost the match, his knee was “going to be really playing up”.
3. It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC and the team on social media. When asked by some of his team mates to get Piers Morgan to stop tweeting about the team, KP laughed at the players and told them to get a thicker skin.
4. KP made disparaging remarks about Michael Carberry in front of other England players and team management prior to the Fourth Test, stating “Aren’t there any better players at County level? Carberry is useless”.
5. KP ranted, saying GS is a “c*nt”, the team was “sh*t” and having a go at AF and his coaching.
6. Following KP’s second innings dismissal, KP whistled casually on his way back to the pavilion, before coming into the dressing room. After the game was lost, KP walked out of the dressing room, saying “I don’t give a f*ck”.
Full document:
Reactions:
The ECB has reacted, saying that the document made public by Cricinfo is ‘simply part of a privileged legal document produced by the ECB's lawyers compiling information as part of the ECB's internal due diligence ahead of the release of the Kevin Pietersen book’
The rest of the cricketing world found the funny or the petty side of the whole controversy:
