Kieswetter opens up on England culture

Former England wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter has revealed a startling insight into England's dressing room following their Ashes success in Australia in 2010-11, claiming it changed people, was full of cliques and players with a South African background were the butt of jokes.

Kieswetter was England's man of the match in the World T20 final in 2010 when they beat Australia by seven wickets in Barbados for the country's first – and so far only – major international trophy.

But those twin successes over Australia led to an irrevocable split in the dressing room that Kieswetter claimed sapped England of team spirit, unity and caused the young, free-flowing and attacking batsman to feel "caged".

"Of all the England teams I played in over five years, that (2010 World T20 squad) was the one that had the best spirit," Kieswetter told ESPN.

"We played golf, we went to the beach and we drank rum. Training tended to be optional. ‘KP’ (Kevin Pietersen) was at his best. So were (Stuart) Broad and (Graeme) Swann. But we were a proper team and everyone got on brilliantly.

"I started out playing with freedom; I ended up caged … I had a good record as an opener and they asked me to bat at No.6. It's tough, but I'm disappointed with the way I responded to it."

The timeframe Kieswetter describes fits with Pietersen's claims of a "horrendous" culture of bullying within the England dressing room.

In the pre-publicity for his tell-all book ‘KP’, Pietersen spoke at length about the bullying culture within the England team that evolved from bowlers perpetually haranguing fielders when they made mistakes.

“It was allowed to develop," Pietersen said last October as his book was launched. "The bowlers were given so much power. They were doing really well. Swanny was winning game after game for us. Broady was contributing. Jimmy (Anderson) was contributing. We always had a third or fourth seamer that was there or thereabouts.

"But these guys ran the dressing room."

Australian legend Ricky Ponting, who faced Pietersen in four Ashes campaigns for three defeats and one whitewash, backed up the estranged batsman's claims.

"We saw them doing it, (James) Anderson was always the same, and (Graeme) Swann," Ponting said.

"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.” 

Former England captain turned commentator Nasser Hussain also substantiated the claims.

"I have long disagreed with how often the England bowlers would have a go at anyone who misfielded or dropped a catch and I was amazed at how long that was allowed to continue," Hussain wrote in his regular Daily Mail column.

"Apart from anything else it plays into the hands of the opposition. They will look at that and say: 'We’ve got this lot on the run. They are at each other’.'"

Kieswetter offered further insight from inside the dressing room, claiming divisions were drawn between England-born players and those with South African heritage, including the Johannesburg-born 'keeper.

"It wasn't just us competing against the opposition," he continued. "There was a sense that some of us were competing against one another.

"By the time we were No.1 in the world, it was a very different dressing room.

"Success changed people. Cliques developed. There were jokes made in the dressing room if you had a South African background. When we warmed up in training, we were split into sides: South Africans v English.

"There was lots of talk about it in the media and here we were making it worse. It created an unnecessary divide. A sense of them and us.

"It grew worse. The Test players were together so much that, when the limited-overs players turned up, it felt like you were on the outside.

"The Test guys hung out with each other; the limited-overs guys hung out. The spirit I experienced in those first few weeks was never there again."

Kieswetter retired from all cricket earlier this month after failing to mentally recover from a shocking facial injury he suffered nearly 12 months ago.

The 27-year-old was felled by a bouncer from Nottinghamshire’s David Willey while batting for Somerset in a County Championship match.

Kieswetter's brutal hit

The blow required surgery on a fractured eye socket but he escaped any permanent damage to his vision.

"I can still play. I can still be OK. But when I came back at the end of last season, there was a lot of bravado and adrenalin involved," Kieswetter said.

"In the end I just thought, there are too many mediocre players in county cricket – and good luck to them – but I don't want to be another one."