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Ricky Ponting says England team did have a bullying culture Ricky Ponting backs up Kevin Pietersen over England’s bullying culture
(about 1 hour later)
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has backed up Kevin Pietersen’s claims that there was a bullying culture in England’s cricket team and believes Alastair Cook should have taken action to stop it happening. The former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has backed up Kevin Pietersen’s claims that there was a bullying culture in England’s cricket team and believes Alastair Cook should have taken action to stop it happening.
Pietersen’s allegations that the England bowlers “ruled with fear” and demanded apologies for fielding mistakes are made in KP: The Autobiography, which is published on Thursday. Pietersen’s allegations that the England bowlers “ruled with fear” and demanded apologies for fielding mistakes are made in KP: The Autobiography, which is published on Thursday. Ponting, who captained Australia between 2004 and 2011 before leaving his post in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat on home soil, believes there is substance to Pietersen’s claims and singles out Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann. He also insisted it would never have been allowed to happen in the opposition dressing room.
Ponting captained Australia between 2004 and 2011 before leaving his post in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat on home soil. He believes there is substance to Pietersen’s claims and insisted it would never have been allowed to happen in the opposition dressing room. “We saw them doing it, Anderson was always the same, and Swann,” Ponting said in the Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph. “The pointing of fingers and you’d hear a few expletives if there was a misfield or a dropped catch.
“We saw them doing it, [James] Anderson was always the same, and [Graeme] Swann,’’ Ponting said in Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph. “The guys who were doing it were the so-called leaders. That’s where the captain has got to come in, not wait and let little things turn into big things. That’s what it sounds like has happened in this England team.”
“The pointing of fingers and you’d hear a few expletives if there was a misfield or a dropped catch. Ponting added: “If a young bloke had dropped a catch and a bowler went off at him, that’s just not acceptable. No one means to drop a catch, no one means to bowl a bad ball, no one means to play a bad shot. It just happens in a game and you have to accept it and move on.”
“The guys who were doing it were the so-called leaders. That’s where the captain has got to come in, not wait and let little things turn into big things. That’s what it sounds like has happened in this England team. Ponting is the only Australia captain in history to have lost three Ashes series and was eventually replaced by Michael Clarke, who masterminded last winter’s 5-0 whitewash along with the coach, Darren Lehmann. However, the Tasmanian believes there was evidence of divisions in the England team long before then.
“If a young bloke had dropped a catch and a bowler went off at him, that’s just not acceptable,’’ Ponting added. “They had lot of very good players that were able to achieve a lot of success as a team,” he said. “But if you could just get inside of them and start pulling them apart, we always had a feeling they would implode pretty quickly and that’s what’s happened over the past 12 months.
“No one means to drop a catch, no one means to bowl a bad ball, no one means to play a bad shot. It just happens in a game and you have to accept it and move on.’’ “I wasn’t surprised with Trott [leaving the Ashes tour], I wasn’t surprised with Swann retiring when he did. When the ship started to go down, he jumped off pretty quickly, and now all the Pietersen stuff.”
Ponting is the only Australian captain in history to have lost three Ashes series and was eventually replaced by Michael Clarke, who masterminded last winter’s 5-0 whitewash along with coach Darren Lehmann. However, the Tasmanian believes there was evidence of divisions in the England team long before then. Pietersen tweeted a link to a story containing Ponting’s quotes to his near two million Twitter followers with the remark: “PLS READ THIS.”
“They had lot of very good players that were able to achieve a lot of success as a team,’’ he said. Pietersen has told his side of the story following the expiry of a confidentiality clause agreed when his England and Wales Cricket Board contract was severed.
“But if you could just get inside of them and start pulling them apart, we always had a feeling they would implode pretty quickly and that’s what’s happened over the past 12 months. The ECB has not commented on Pietersen’s claims, but will come under increasing pressure to do so as the controversy continues to rage.
“I wasn’t surprised with Trott [leaving the Ashes tour], I wasn’t surprised with Swann retiring when he did. When the ship started to go down, he jumped off pretty quickly, and now all the Pietersen stuff.’’