Ex-England skippers and Graeme Smith weigh in
Fallout continues over KP's book
Image: Jimmy Anderson's character has again been questioned
Ex-Test captain Andrew Strauss has lent his public support to under-fire former England coach Andy Flower and described the accusations and character assassinations that continue to flow from Kevin Pietersen’s new book as “madness”.
Strauss, who took over the England captaincy after Pietersen’s brief reign ended in 2009 and – as Flower’s on-field leader – took England to the top of the world Test rankings two years later hit back at Pietersen's scathing critique of Flower and his methods.
In his autobiography ‘KP’ released this week, Pietersen describes Flower as a “dreadful coach” who he claims oversaw an environment of fear and bullying in the England dressing room where players lived in fear of making mistakes.
In his latest round of media interviews in the UK, Pietersen again pointed the finger at Flower for the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to terminate the star batsman’s international career in the wake of last summer’s humiliating five-nil Ashes whitewash in Australia.
"He (Flower) should take most of the responsibility," Pietersen told talkSPORT Radio.
"He was the one who papered over things, didn't investigate things, the one this all falls down to."
But Strauss, who was the subject of criticism contained in text messages Pietersen sent to the rival South African team during the 2012 Test series in England, staunchly defended Flower and the team culture the pair built during their partnership at the helm.
"Andy Flower is a guy of complete integrity," Strauss told Sky Sports for whom he works as a commentator and in which role he referred to Pietersen as a ‘c….’ when an off-air comment was inadvertently broadcast during a recent commemorative match at Lord’s.
"If you look at his record as coach, it's second to none.
"That idea that the team should come first was central to what we did, and something Andy Flower was very conscious of and protective over.
"Anyone who was testing that would be dealt with accordingly, and rightly so.
"A lot of this that's going on at the moment is madness.
"There's been a lot of rumour, innuendo and opinion. I prefer to stick with the facts.
"All this tit-for-tat stuff, I don't think really helps the England cricket team.
"The victim here really isn't Kevin Pietersen, or Andy Flower or (former vice-captain) Matt Prior or anyone; it's actually the England cricket team and (captain) Alastair Cook and (current coach) Peter Moores who've got to try to take the side forward.
"That, to me, is the disappointing thing about this whole episode."
Strauss’s concerns about the ongoing damage the fall-out from the Pietersen autobiography and associated commentary is inflicting on English cricket was echoed, in part, by former England opening batsman and outspoken commentator Geoffrey Boycott.
In a column for the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, Boycott observed it had been a “sorry week for English cricket” but while acknowledging fault lay with both warring parties he accused the ECB of attempting to saddle Pietersen with a bulk of the blame for the Ashes debacle.
In pointing out that the internal man management issues that led to Pietersen’s sacking would have been consummately handled by previous England captains, Boycott also effectively questioned Cook’s role in the demise of England’s most successful Test batsman of the modern era.
"We were the worst I have ever seen in Australia (during last summer’s Ashes)," Boycott wrote.
"If the ECB, Andy Flower and Alastair Cook cannot see they too were to blame then they are sticking their heads up their a---.
"It is ridiculous to make one man the scapegoat.
"I am not blindly sticking up for Kevin. But most very talented sportsmen are like diamonds.
"They sparkle and glitter and light up the game. They catch the eye and enchant the public. But all diamonds are flawed.
"They are not perfect and you have to learn to love and nurture a diamond. They have not done that with Kevin.
"Look, I know three captains who would have handled him no problem at all: Michael Vaughan, Mike Brearley and Raymond Illingworth.
"They would have set boundaries early on in their relationship with Kevin.
"They would have accepted you have to give a bit of leeway to a rare talent. But they would never humiliate him in public."
The debate and drama unleashed by Pietersen’s book, which was officially released in the UK yesterday, has also spread to the country of his and Strauss’s birth – South Africa.
Ex-South African captain Graeme Smith echoed the thoughts of his long-time rival and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting when he claimed he wasn’t surprised to learn of Pietersen’s accounts of a ‘bullying culture’ within the England team that was largely driven by the bowlers.
Despite an acrimonious history, during which Smith publicly claimed “I don’t like Kevin Pietersen” because of criticism of South Africa contained in an earlier Pietersen book and the England batsman’s description of Smith as an “absolute muppet”, Smith echoed some of his rival’s observations.
"I think some of the stuff he (Pietersen) touches on in his book I certainly can believe, having played against him we always used to say if we could get ahead or get a win that they (England) would turn on each other," Smith told Highveld FM radio station in Johannesburg.
"I think that bullying stuff, you certainly experienced that when you played against them and you knew you could use it as an asset to get on the other side of them.
"But obviously with the other stuff behind the scenes it’s very difficult for me to answer those questions.
"KP is a drawcard and world cricket loves to watch him play the game, it’s sad that he’s not playing international cricket anymore and I think English cricket are worse off without him and I think man management is probably a big factor in why he’s not there."
Smith also revealed that he regarded England opening bowler James Anderson, one of those identified by Pietersen as creating maintaining the intimidating environment by haranguing fielders who made mistakes, as the “grumpiest” opponent he had encountered.
"He just goes all day," Smith said.
"He’s very easy to irritate, so we often used to try and get on the other side of him and irritate him."
Despite the revelations and accusations that have riven English cricket over the past week, Pietersen continues to maintain he would make himself available to play for his adopted nation once more if there are significant changes wrung at the top of the ECB.
"I wouldn't be sitting here now if the ECB had said 'this is why he got sacked'," Pietersen said.
"But we are here, and it's such a controversial topic because nobody knows why. I don't know why.
"I would make room for England, absolutely.
"If there was an inkling, a little chance that I would play for England, I would go and do the hard yards."
The Fallout So Far
KP was jealous of Australia having 'Boof'
Ponting not surprised by KP's bullying claims
Mitch Johnson 'scared' England and KP
Leaked document unearths 'crimes'?
Strauss reaches out to KP despite fractured relationship
Swann smashes KP's 'work of fiction'
KP unloads on former teammates in book