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ECB says leaked Ashes email drafted in response to Kevin Pietersen book ECB says leaked Ashes email drafted in response to Kevin Pietersen book
(35 minutes later)
The England and Wales Cricket Board has admitted that a leaked document detailing repeated problems with Kevin Pietersen on the 2013-14 Ashes Tour forms part of a potential legal response to the batsman’s explosive autobiography. The England and Wales Cricket Board has admitted a leaked document detailing repeated problems with Kevin Pietersen on the 2013-14 Ashes Tour forms part of a potential legal response to the batsman’s explosive autobiography.
The document, only snippets of which had previously appeared, was published in greater detail by ESPN Cricinfo on Tuesday afternoon, after Pietersen had completed a round of book-plugging interviews and before he attended a question-and-answer session in Gorton, Manchester. The document, only snippets of which had previously appeared, was published by ESPN Cricinfo on Tuesday afternoon, after Pietersen had completed a round of book-plugging interviews and before he attended a question and answer session in the surreal setting of a Franciscan friary known as the Monastery in Gorton, Manchester.
It included a reference to the showdown with Andy Flower, the then coach, before the fifth Test in Sydney which Pietersen describes in detail in his autobiography, but also of many other incidents that are not mentioned in the book. There was the odd admission of regret but the mood was certainly not confessional as Pietersen repeated his attacks on Andy Flower and Matt Prior for, he joked, “the 701st time today” – and he then added his strongest criticism yet of Graeme Swann, claiming that Flower shared his view that the spinner had “let the team down” by flying home before the end of the series.
They include criticism of Alastair Cook’s captaincy, Michael Carberry’s batting and Graeme Swann’s character, in addition to other examples of defiance of Flower – whether whistling in the dressing room after his dismissal or taking young players out drinking against team instructions. He responded to the leaked document, which had surfaced only a couple of hours earlier, by describing it as “embarrassing” for the ECB. It left the governing body with a familiar exercise of damage limitation, after the document had been greeted with derision on social media.
But an ECB spokesman, who had earlier maintained the governing body’s refusal to respond to Pietersen’s various attacks, insisted the document is not a dossier but an internal legal email that was being prepared by lawyers as a possible response to the book. The ECB also later claimed the document had been tampered with. “This is the last thing we wanted,” he said. It included a reference to the showdown with Flower, the then coach, before the fifth Test in Sydney that Pietersen describes in detail in his autobiography, but also covers many other incidents that are not mentioned in the book.
On Twitter the ECB said: “The document published by ESPNcricinfo is not what has been suggested. It 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.” They include criticism of Alastair Cook’s captaincy, Michael Carberry’s batting and Swann’s character, in addition to other examples of defiance of Flower – whether whistling in the dressing room after his dismissal, or taking young players out drinking against team instructions.
The document, marked “Strictly privileged and confidential”, alleges that before the final Test in Sydney Pietersen said Cook’s captaincy was “weak [and] tactically inept”, that he called Swann a “cunt” and that he said Flower should let the younger players “go out and get pissed”. It was initially billed by Cricinfo as the dossier that was mentioned by the ECB around the time of Pietersen’s sacking in February. But an ECB spokesman, who had earlier maintained the governing body’s refusal to respond to Pietersen’s various attacks, insisted it was an internal legal email that was being prepared by lawyers as a possible response to the book. The ECB also later claimed the document had been tampered with. “This is the last thing we wanted,” the spokesman said.
It alleges that Pietersen said Carberry was “useless” and asked, “Aren’t there any better players at county level?” There are also questions raised about Pietersen’s friendship with Piers Morgan. The document states: “It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC [Cook] and the team on social media. When asked by some of his team-mates to get Morgan to stop, KP laughed at the players and told them to get a thicker skin.” On Twitter, the ECB said: “The document published by ESPNcricinfo is not what has been suggested. It 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.”
Earlier Pietersen had admitted that “it does look like it’s the end of the road” for his England career and suggested that could also mean the end of his career in English cricket. The document, marked “Strictly privileged and confidential”, alleges that, before the final Test in Sydney, Pietersen stated Cook’s captaincy was “weak [and] tactically inept”, that he called Swann a “cunt” and that he said Flower should let the younger players “go out and get pissed”.
Pietersen has previously suggested that he would be keen to play County Championship cricket with Surrey next summer in an effort to improve on his poor form as a Twenty20 gun for hire this year. It alleges that Pietersen said Carberry was “useless” and asked: “Aren’t there any better players at county level?” There are also questions raised about Pietersen’s friendship with Piers Morgan. The document states: “It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC [Cook] and the team on social media. When asked by some of his team-mates to get Morgan to stop, KP laughed at the players and told them to get a thicker skin.”
But at the end of a long interview with Adrian Chiles on BBC Radio 5 Live – during which he reacted emotionally to a comment from the BBC’s cricket correspondent, Jonathan Agnew, and then left the studio without listening to his answer – the 34-year-old conceded that his hopes of returning to the England team, which he has expressed in his autobiography as well as in various other interviews, must be regarded as remote. There is no mention in the book, or the document, of Swann’s early departure from Australia, immediately the Ashes had been lost in the third Test in Perth. But when asked about it by a member of an audience of about 300 in Gorton, Pietersen said: “Do I think it’s right that he jumped the ship in the middle of the series? No I don’t, I think he let the England team down. The head coach [Flower] called a meeting and said he’d let the team down. The Mood Hoover said he didn’t think it was right, and a lot of the players felt very aggrieved. He blames his elbow – absolutely fine – but I reckon he could have held on for a couple of weeks and stuck by the lads, definitely.”
“Yes, it does look like it’s the end of the road,” he said. “It does not look like they can pick me for the Ashes next year because there are only two or three Test matches [before then].” There are actually three in the West Indies and two at home to New Zealand, although that is unlikely to make much difference. Pietersen also welcomed comments by Ajmal Shahzad, the Nottinghamshire all-rounder who played one Test and 11 one-day internationals, endorsing his claims that a culture of bullying had existed in the England team.
This comment came after he insisted that he has not been sacked by Surrey, as some have suggested – although he was not included on the list of retained players for 2015 submitted by the county to the ECB last week. “I remember times when I misfielded balls during the World Cup,” Shahzad told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I dived over a ball and there were some senior players you just didn’t want to look at because you just knew they were disappointed and they thought what you’d done was really bad. When you did something wrong it wasn’t looked kindly upon. It did feel quite bad at times. You just didn’t want to look up because you knew you were going to get these stern looks.”
“Nothing has happened at Surrey,” Pietersen said, stressing that the county are coached by “my great friend and mentor” from South Africa, Graham Ford. “Surrey have not got rid of me. If somebody said to me there was a strong chance of playing for England, I would go and play county cricket. I would leave this interview right now and go and play it. That’s what I now have to look at. It is a decision I have to come to over the next couple of months. Thinking what I want from my future.” Earlier, Pietersen had admitted that “it does look like it’s the end of the road” for his England career, and suggested that could also mean the end of his career in English cricket.
The ECB has maintained its silence, presumably happy for Pietersen to rage himself out. A source has been quoted as saying: “There was a small earthquake yesterday, but nobody died.” The ECB has maintained its silence, presumably happy for Pietersen to rage himself out. Flower, Pietersen’s third and last England coach, who is pilloried in the book, has not reacted either. But the position as technical director of elite cricket that the ECB gave the Zimbabwean after the Ashes tour confirms that the governing body retains full confidence in him. He also coached the England Lions team this summer – extending the one-on-one work he had been doing with the young players whom Pietersen had claimed he was suffocating – and he is expected to take them on a tour of South Africa in January, when the senior team will be in Australia preparing for the World Cup.
Flower, Pietersen’s third and last England coach, who is pilloried in the book, has not reacted either. But the position as technical director of elite cricket that the ECB gave him after the Ashes tour confirms that the governing body retain full confidence in him. He also coached the England Lions team this summer – extending the one-on-one work he had been doing with the young players Pietersen had claimed he was suffocating – and he is expected to take them on a tour of South Africa in January, when the senior team will be in Australia preparing for the World Cup.
Ajmal Shahzad, the Nottinghamshire and former England bowler, appeared to back up Pietersen’s claims about bullying during an interview with Radio 5 Live. “I remember times when I misfielded balls during the World Cup,” he said.
“I dived over a ball and there were some senior players you just didn’t want to look at because you just knew they were disappointed and they thought what you’d done was really bad. When you did something wrong it wasn’t looked kindly upon. It did feel quite bad at times. You just didn’t want to look up because you knew you were going to get these stern looks.”
ECB on KP: what the lawyers sayECB on KP: what the lawyers say
Key passages from the six-page document which is marked ‘Strictly privileged and confidential’Key passages from the six-page document which is marked ‘Strictly privileged and confidential’
”Nov 29-30 Alleged behaviour by KP/incidents involving KP 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)””Dec 26-30 It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC [Alastair Cook] 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””Nov 29-30 Alleged behaviour by KP/incidents involving KP 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)””Dec 26-30 It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC [Alastair Cook] 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”
”Prior to 5th Test, AF&KP meeting KP stated that AC was weak, tactically inept and that AC’s latest effort to galvanise the team was ‘pathetic’. KP ranted, saying GS [Graeme Swann] is a “c*nt”, the team was ‘sh*t’ and having a go at AF and his coaching””Prior to 5th Test, AF&KP meeting KP stated that AC was weak, tactically inept and that AC’s latest effort to galvanise the team was ‘pathetic’. KP ranted, saying GS [Graeme Swann] is a “c*nt”, the team was ‘sh*t’ and having a go at AF and his coaching”
”Jan 3-7 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'.”Jan 3-7 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'.
In team meetings during the tour, KP would often be deliberately disengaged (e.g. looking out of the window, looking at his watch etc whilst AF and others were talking to the team)”In team meetings during the tour, KP would often be deliberately disengaged (e.g. looking out of the window, looking at his watch etc whilst AF and others were talking to the team)”