Cricket Ashes Tips: When will the ECB's patience with Pietersen run out?

England / Frank Gregan / 25 October 2010 /

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His mouth is certainly firing but KP hasn't been firing wth the bat in recent times

"His gripes always seem petty, like his belligerence when told wives wouldn't initially be allowed on the Ashes tour. There are thousands of people on tour in Afghanistan doing without the company of their loved ones, whilst carrying out a duty for the nation."

After a petulant Tweet, a fall-out with his county and the "no-ball" incident, Kevin Pietersen is at it again, this time speaking is mind about ECB consultant John Buchanan. When will the selectors drop KP for good, wonders Frank Gregan.

Kevin Pietersen has elected to reply in public to comments made by England's consultant, John Buchanan, who had stated in a magazine interview that KP could turn out to be a disruptive figure on the Ashes tour. England's mercurial batsman didn't hold back, "I'm not interested in what he has to say. Who is he? He's a nobody."

That's a pretty daft statement to make about someone who many consider to be one of the finest coaches of his generation. The England camp have moved swiftly to dismiss the tiff as a non-story and have a done a reasonable job. However, this wasn't one of KP's more spectacular own goals, there have been some that not even Graeme Swann could put a spin on!

His Twitter howler is probably top of the list. Dropped by England for the first time, KP decided to vent his anger with a foul mouthed Tweet. Fortunately there is a 140 character limit on Tweets which prevented him from digging himself an even deeper hole but his petulance was plain for all to see.

His form during the summer was very poor and wasn't helped by his public spat with his county Hampshire, who froze him out of their plans after he made it clear he intended to move on. That left him with nowhere to go to get a confidence-restoring big knock between England fixtures and was doubtlessly a contributing factor when Andy Flower and the selectors took the decision to leave him out of the one-day action against Pakistan.

That just about topped off a thoroughly miserable summer for KP, although for good measure he was also involved in the dead ball incident during the Pakistan second Test. Many thought he did nothing wrong then but it seemed that controversy was following him around like a ball seeking out a fielder with the "dropsies".

He's not the first English cricketer to get media headlines for the wrong reasons. England have had their share of hell-raisers in the past, Andrew Flintoff and Ian Botham probably being the two most high-profile. But Flintoff and Botham were very different characters to Pietersen and although they caused the ECB an abundance of headaches, they were always loved by English cricket fans.

Supporters identified with Ian Botham and to a lesser extent Andrew Flintoff. They were loveable rogues but when it mattered most they always seemed to produce the goods. Kevin Pietersen lives in a different era to Sir Ian, one that demands much higher professional standards and the public and ECB are no longer as tolerant as they once were.

His gripes always seem petty, like his belligerence when told wives wouldn't initially be allowed on the Ashes tour. There are thousands of people on tour in Afghanistan doing without the company of their loved ones, whilst carrying out a duty for the nation. It's that kind of whinge that gets right up supporter's noses and causes him to have none of the rapport that Botham and Flintoff had with the English fans.

In his defence, his transgressions have been minor compared to the stomach-turning unsavoury goings-on that have recently been uncovered by the Red Tops. But the question has to be asked - will the ECB continue to give him chance after chance? Perhaps, but Andy Flower and the selectors have shown that they are not afraid to crack on without him.

At 30, Kevin Pietersen still has a great deal to offer English cricket but he needs to get his head right and work hard to repair some bridges with his team-mates and coaches. It's not impossible that England could win the Ashes without him, but it would be a much harder task.

His lack of form means that he is a very tempting [5.5] to back to be England's top batsman on the Ashes tour and a whopping [14.0] could well be attainable to be the top batsman from both sides. If he regains his form and sorts out his petulance, they could well be the bets of the series.

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