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Ricky Ponting backs up Kevin Pietersen over England’s bullying culture Ricky Ponting backs up Kevin Pietersen over England’s bullying culture
(about 1 hour later)
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.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. 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.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.
“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, 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.
“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 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 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.”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.”
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.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.
“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.“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.
“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.”“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.”
Pietersen tweeted a link to a story containing Ponting’s quotes to his near two million Twitter followers with the remark: “PLS READ THIS.”Pietersen tweeted a link to a story containing Ponting’s quotes to his near two million Twitter followers with the remark: “PLS READ THIS.”
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.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.
The ECB has not commented on Pietersen’s claims, but will come under increasing pressure to do so as the controversy continues to rage.The ECB has not commented on Pietersen’s claims, but will come under increasing pressure to do so as the controversy continues to rage.
Pietersen’s promotional tour is continuing and a fresh interview was published by Cricinfo on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old denies threatening to quit the Ashes tour before the third Test in Perth, as alleged in the leaked ECB document.
He said: “No, no. Why would I do that? It’s a ridiculous story.
“The only issue was with my knee. I almost didn’t play in that Test. My knee was really hurting. I was batting the day before the Test and I walked out of the nets and told Andy that I was really struggling. I called the physio over. But that’s not the same as trying to quit a tour, is it?
“I had the option of micro-fracture surgery before the Ashes in England but I said ’No, I want to play these 10 Tests’.”
On a bullying-related matter, Pietersen strenuously denies suggestions that he singled out team-mate James Taylor for criticism during a dressing-room tirade at Headingley in 2012. Pietersen insists there was no such outburst.
He said: “There’s this lie out there that I rubbished him in front of the team. It’s not true. I spoke to Andy Flower about him. It was a private conversation.
“It was a senior player talking to the coach in private. I expressed my views when asked. To have private conversations turned into a media story on Monday morning that I was ridiculing James Taylor in the dressing room is ridiculous.”
Pietersen now hopes that more players will come out to back up his own claims about bullying.
“I needed to bring up that issue,” he said. “It wasn’t a nice environment. Guys were picked on big time. Some other players will come out eventually and say the same thing.”