Cricket Comment: Pietersen Test career may not be history if England dressing room was a little more relaxed
ONE issue lost amid the furore over Kevin Pietersen’s sacking by England chiefs is what this regrettable episode says about the dressing room. Specifically, is it all a bit too serious?
From the coaching staff down to the kit men, there are a lot of very similar characters in the England set-up: ultra-professional, analytical and very, very serious.
I’m not suggesting that they dispense with professionalism or start re-enacting Morecambe and Wise routines, but maybe the level of tension is too high. Players play better when relaxed and some fun is necessary for team-building. I wonder whether that’s been lost somewhere along the way.
England send their players to boot camp for team-building and employ countless staff. Why not spend some of that budget on sending the players to Portugal for pre-season, putting them up in a spa hotel, hiring comedian Jimmy Carr to put on a show and letting them have some fun?
Unlike many, I don’t think England have handled Pietersen’s departure badly. I also think they’ve done the right thing. It’s a shame such a talented player ends his Test career like this, but clearly his behaviour has upset a lot of people over a long period of time.
Yet maybe – and it is only maybe – England and KP wouldn’t be in this position if the environment had been different during the last three years.
In any case, I firmly believe that a more relaxed approach would help to get the most out of all players.
Andy Lloyd is a former England Test cricketer. He has also served as captain and chairman of Warwickshire.