Bleak midwinter for English cricket
English cricket faces a battle to recover from the recent turmoil
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England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen and head coach Peter Moores have left their posts after their ongoing dispute came to a head at an emergency ECB meeting earlier this week. |  |
Thursday, 08, Jan 2009 11:21
It felt a long, long way from the English summer at the Brit Oval last night.
The bitter cold midwinter weather would have frozen to death even the most hardened spectator in the ground's deserted stands. The dark night of an early January evening made the playing turf barely visible. The unseen square remained a ghost of a memory.
Yet, despite the unseasonal location, drama was unfolding which would have the most profound effect on the fortunes of the England cricket team.
This was no batting order collapse: it was the collapse of the team's leadership, a far more damaging turn of events.
By the time I arrived at the Oval the writing was all but on the wall. Details had emerged throughout the day about the horrific denouement of this latest sad chapter in England's history. The mutual tension between the team's captain and coach was making both of their positions untenable.
The pair had been unable to work out their inability to get on with each other, it was said, prompting Kevin Pietersen to make a hopelessly confrontational ultimatum to the ECB: it's him or me. It turned out to be both of them.
'Creative differences' is the way they describe it in the musical world. The English cricket team has no such excuses. With the Ashes looming later this year the implications for this development are hugely worrying.
I was somewhat grateful my editors had spared me a longer wait at the Oval. The cricket press had been dug in all day and were in bunker mentality by the time I arrived, grittily not willing to let go of the biggest story in British sport of the day. For such a big lead they weren't going anywhere.
It was like arriving in the final five minutes of a vigil. In the end, Pietersen blamed the media for escalating the story out of his control. They knew they'd had a role to play. But they also knew he had brought it upon himself.
Finally, to the relief of everyone, ECB managing director Hugh Morris strode out to make his statement.
The room listened carefully as he explained the "impossible situation" which had developed between KP and coach Peter Moores.
The "irretrievable breakdown" had led to KP's resignation, Moores' sacking and Andrew Strauss being brought in as captain for the West Indies tour only. Morris made much of the need for "dressing-room unity".
He's right, of course. But that didn't make the news any easier to take.
As soon as Morris had said his piece he stalked out of the room, refusing to take questions. Not that there were any: as if the press corps were shocked into silence by the news there were no shouted queries, no attempt to eke more information.
"That was worth waiting for," one cameraman joked. Actually, it was.
For English cricket has, once again, done its best to scupper its chances of success in 2009.
It has shot itself in the feet. It has cut off an arm. The top order may as well walk out to the crease in their underpants. The bowlers should just revive the underarm technique. Despite their first home series defeat since the early 90s, Australia are now once again overwhelming favourites to take the Ashes.
That's tough to take. But history shows the relationship between captains and coaches is vital to team success. Supremo Ray Illingworth's overbearing style made Michael Atherton's time as captain more than a little difficult. By contrast Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher enjoyed a period of success which culminated in the infamous 2005 win. The Moores-Pietersen partnership enjoyed mixed success. Ultimately, the frictions between them made it unsustainable.
What next for England? KP will still be around, but riding out the current storm is bound to have an effect on him. He will feel unfulfilled; England supporters will feel betrayed by his inability to harness his tempestuous personality for the benefit of the team. Let's hope Andrew Strauss can work with whoever fills Moores' shoes and quickly builds up a strong relationship.
After the furore over the current debacle something tells me they will.
As I walked out of the Oval the security guard raised his eyebrows at me, surprised at my exit so soon after turning up. "Over already, is it?" he asked. I smiled ruefully. His comment just about summed up Pietersen's captaincy.
Alex Stevenson