England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 13 January 2009 /

Frank Gregan explains why bickering and sniping in the dressing room mean that it won't be easy for Kevin Pietersen to concentrate on batting for England. And why Andrew Strauss will be donning a duffel coat very soon...

There were two high profile casualties of the ECB's "Shamblegate!" Peter Moores appears to be toast and the chances of him gaining employment with the national side at any time in the future look bleak given that he was packing enough contract time to make the ECB Finance Director squeal every time he saw Moores' name in print.

Kevin Pietersen resigned (a bit like the bloke walking the plank in the Pirate Movie jumps) but has retained his place in the side in all forms of cricket. ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris was quoted as saying he had huge respect for KP and that he is an "immense talent." He could of course have been much more succinct and said: "He's the only bloke in our team who can bat!"

Pietersen's crime seems to have been that he was single-handedly plotting the resurrection of English cricket and looking to bring on board some of the finest cricketing minds currently available. He also believed he had more support in the dressing room than was the case.

Every decent dictator knows the first rule of a decent coup is to take over the radio and TV stations first but KP failed to get his message across. He just went quietly about his business, scheming and plotting behind everybody's backs.

He bided his time and when he didn't get his own way over the selection of Michael Vaughan he threw his toys out of the cot and straight over the top of long on! "Back me or sack me," he declared. Oops, didn't read that one too well Kevin!

Steve Harmison said that he believed that KP was only doing what he thought was right for English cricket because the guy is "a born winner." He can't be, he is in the England cricket team. He was born a South African and if he had any desire to win cricket matches on a regular basis he would be playing for them and not our bunch of flops!

Had he planted the seeds earlier and been more media savvy, he could have used the opportunity to state his case through logic and reason rather than the kind of behaviour that usually means a trip to the naughty step.

He has had loads of opportunities to prepare the way. After the Stanford debacle he could have said: "The performance was dire and we have to look at the reasons behind that. Could our preparation have been better? Yes. Could our mental approach been better? Yes, it could have been, we have to look at those things and if fresh ideas are needed then perhaps we have to look at bringing in someone to supply them."

After the one day annihilation in India he could have said: "We have lost our way and lost direction, there are some very talented people not involved in cricket coaching at the moment. Not all of them are English and perhaps it is time to think outside the box and get some fresh ideas and get this team winning again."

After one of the most embarrassing defeats ever witnessed, the first test in Chennai, he could have said: "Peter Moores stinks, we need Michael Vaughan back and a whole host of decent coaches including my best mate - Shane Warne!" Job done!

Pietersen will now return to the backbenches and be allowed to concentrate on what he does best - batting. If only it were that simple, there is more back biting going on in the England camp than there is in the Lions sanctuary at Longleat! One can only imagine the bickering, hollering and fighting prior to the start of the first test in Jamica between all the former captains still in the dressing room, and that will only be whether the call should be heads or tails!

It all now rests on the shoulders of Andrew Strauss, the most uninspirational appointment since Michael Foot took over the Labour Party. The Caribbean is famous for its Barber Shop quartets and Strauss needs to hire one to be in the dressing room on the first day of the first test. It is the only chance of there being any harmony in there!

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: