"I'm not waiting for Andrew Strauss!" declared Pietersen arriving at the post match press conference at Headingly on Monday evening. The press pack must have been licking their lips. This could get messy.
Normally, post-match press conferences are attended by the man of the match and his skipper together - Pietersen was in no mood to wait, and now we know why.
Pietersen went on to tell the press how tough it was to be him, how angry he was that details of his contract renewal discussions with the ECB had been leaked and how there was more to these discussions than simply his desire to play in the IPL, one of which being issues he faces in the England dressing room.
Quite what he means by issues in the dressing room only he and those close to the team will know, but things are supposedly so bad that at one stage, KP suspected one of his team mates was behind a spoof Twitter account that has been set up to poke fun at the superstar batsman.
KP is at loggerheads with the ECB over their scheduling England matches, and the lack of flexibility in allowing England players - most notably him - to participate in domestic cricket events such as the IPL.
Pietersen is the best T20 batsman in the world and it stands to reason he would be highly sought after by IPL franchises. He appeared for the Dehli Daredevils in this year’s IPL campaign but returned to the UK before the end of the competition to prepare for England's test series against the West Indies
It's an honour to play for your country and people’s expectation is that players should prioritise this above all else. But cricket - like other major sports - is driven by money, and the IPL has bucket loads of it, giving it huge leverage to attract the best players in the world whether international cricket boards like it or not.
Currently, most international cricket boards including the ECB refuse to factor in the IPL to their schedules when planning their tours around the world. The argument is that international cricket is more important and players should therefore make themselves available or face being left out by their country.
The ECB have taken a firm stance on this up until now, and whilst England have played so well over the past few years, most of the senior test players have been happy to reject the lures of the IPL to ensure they stay part of a winning team.
Times were always going to change though, and with England showing slight signs of faltering in recent months, not to mention the prospect of some serious pay-days in India as he nears the autumn of his playing career, it's not completely unreasonable for KP to want to look towards India.
The question is, are the ECB right to completely rule their players out of appearing in the domestic Indian competition?
Personally I think it's a big mistake to ignore the IPL at all costs. Sport, like everything else in life evolves and cricket, despite the desires of the traditionalists, is no different
Test cricket is still the pinnacle of the sport, but T20 is a superb format in its own right. The IPL has brought cricket into the modern age, where bite-size sporting events packed with drama and excitement can fit much better around spectators increasingly busy lives.
The danger I see occurring is that the best cricketers end up bypassing international cricket and head straight for T20 franchises. So far we have seen players at the end of their careers heading there for final pay days, but what if the younger generations brought up on T20 cricket go straight for the cash-cow? International cricket will be the worse for it - you need the best players playing in the best format, which in my mind is still test cricket.
Look at football. International tournaments may still carry prestige for some nations, but for others like England the Premiership and Champions League is considered more important to the fans, whilst the economic benefits on offer make it more attractive to the players, sponsors and administrators alike.
Cricket is a completely different sport of course, but with T20 franchises continuing to pop up all over the world, it’s not impossible to envisage the globalisation of the T20 franchise business, with teams competing against each other from different countries, putting even more strain on international cricket going forwards.
The problem is, and this is typified by Kevin Pietersen and his stance with the ECB, cricketers want something different to what the boards want and whilst this disconnect exists, there are always going to be problems. Look at the West Indies tour of England earlier this summer. So many of the West Indies best players missed the test series because they were in India appearing in the IPL.
The West Indies face massive challenges in keeping their players onside with the lure of the IPL even greater to them given their poor renumeration at international level, but they are not the only board struggling with this. New Zealand are another, and their squad that faces England next March will also be decimated, again due to the IPL.
You can’t just say players should honour their country. Money talks, for all of us.
I would like to see a football type schedule imposed into world cricket. Governed by the ICC, there should be periods in the year that are set aside specifically for domestic competitions like the IPL, Australia's Big Bash and the ECB's Friends Life T20 , leaving the rest of the year for international, first class and list A cricket. Sure there will be overlaps, there’s no getting around that, but we should promote the best and most popular forms of cricket – it is one sport at the end of the day
And far be it from just pandering to the IPL, this would also allow England's FLT20 tournament to grow in stature. This season has not sparkled as in previous years, with a lack of genuine world-class talent on show. A break in the schedule would allow international players to participate whilst freeing up England players for a shorter - maybe three week – campaign as well.
It's food for thought at least. Despite my cynicism at the start of this piece, I am a big fan of KP, and I actually think he has a point, even though he's made them in an unfortunate way. The cricket schedule is ridiculous and for me, it's not on to just say, "forget about the IPL."
It's not just about the money, it's about growing the game of cricket we all know and love. T20 will be a massive part of cricket’s future and for me, if international boards don't embrace that, they could be left behind.
I believe that tests should be played between the top 8 nations. T20s in all these leagues. And only key ODI tournaments should be played. Thus, it would give time for everything. The point you drive is true that money will eventually become important.
ReplyDeleteRather than lamenting on what is gone, we should embrace what is coming.