Anyone with a passion for cricket will have watched with disbelief as the latest Kevin Pietersen and England Cricket Board saga has unfolded. The hashtag #shambles is doing the rounds on Twitter while former South African skipper Graeme Smith has said England is a “laughing stock”. He might be right.
Despite a series of unpleasant historical incidents involving KP and the England authorities – most famously the texts about then England captain Andrew Strauss and KP’s book in which he complained of a bullying culture – earlier this year new ECB chairman Colin Graves threw KP a clear England team lifeline. He asked that KP drop his IPL commitments, get a county, and score some runs. And then he will be considered.
As we have seen, KP has done exactly that and shown what an incredible batting talent he is. Nonetheless, freshly appointed England cricket supremo Andrew Strauss (yes the guy KP texted about) and the ECB chief executive have told KP he isn’t in their plans over the short term. They don’t think KP is trustworthy and instead offered him a chance of redemption via an advisory role for the one day game.
Cue public outcry from those that want KP back. And in fact cue even more support from those who agree that KP has been misled and badly treated. For once the weight of public opinion was behind him, with Piers Morgan as ever fanning the flames.
KP has made a mistake though. With all this support, on the same day he finishes his mighty knock of 355 for Surrey, he pens an article for The Telegraph bemoaning the decision and complaining of what a bad hand he’s been dealt. Yet again he points fingers at management and generally undermines it. He also promptly rejoins the IPL. It was clearly a busy day for KP.
What he should have done was stay quiet and let the weight of public opinion do the promotional work for him. By taking to the air waves straight away he has only served to prove Strauss’ point about trust. He has just further entrenched the line between those that want him back and those that don’t.
He also turned down the advisory role. Sure, the offer seems a touch rich given the context, but had he taken the high road he could have said that while he’d prefer to be playing he is happy to do anything – on or off field – to support the England cause. But no, that would be too collegiate.
And that’s the real problem with KP. He is always thinking about himself first. Had he reacted differently and been a stronger character and tried to keep England in the papers for the right reasons today, he may even have swung me over to become a fan of his again. And why not stick with county and commentary instead of immediately flying back off to the IPL? He doesn’t need the money.
The ECB of course is far from perfect in all of this. They have behaved badly and not for the first time. But, KP may have just saved them by following through on poor advice. I just hope he’s not taking it from the likes of Piers Morgan.
Sam Turvey is a Partner at international PR agency Bell Pottinger.
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