London, Oct 10: Kevin Pietersen said on Thursday he had yet to find out why he was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as officials maintained their wall of silence after a deluge of publicity for his controversial autobiography.
Pietersen’s decade-long international career, during which time the South Africa-born batsman became England’s all-time leading run-scorer, was sensationally cut loose by the ECB following the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.
The past few days have seen Pietersen berate former England coach Andy Flower and accuse a clique of senior bowlers, as well as wicketkeeper Matt Prior, of creating a “bullying” culture in the field.
Such has been Pietersen’s intensive round of interviews — the latest with talkSPORT Radio on Thursday — that many potential purchasers may feel they no longer need to read his book.
But he insisted the days of accusation and counter-claim could all have been avoided had he been told why his services were being dispensed with by England.
“I was angry with the ECB when I got sacked,” Pietersen said as his book went on general sale. I wouldn’t be sitting here now if the ECB had said ‘this is why he got sacked’. But we are here, and it’s such a controversial topic because nobody knows why. I don’t know why.”
He added that talks with the ECB in February could have avoided this week’s fall-out. “That would have been the sensible thing to do, absolutely — and it could have been done in February if things were managed properly,” he said. “I would have sat down and I would have gone through it, because I don’t want this.”
Comments
Add new comment