Kevin Pietersen makes good on his New Year’s resolution

ACHY-BREAKING NEWS! Kevin Pietersen has quit as captain of England’s cricket team. So reports go, at least.

Yes folks, the man with the biggest ego in cricket has picked himself first, and to hell with the needs of his team in this Ashes year.

We all knew that KP and England coach Peter Moores didn’t get on, and this caused Pietersen to allegedly issue a classic “Either he goes or I do…” ultimatum to the Men At The ECB.

But the ECB suits don’t like confrontation - KP loves it - and refused to fold. I presume they thought that would shut their skipper up, but Pietersen walked and now English cricket faces another barrage of tabloid bouncers: ‘England Shambles!’ anyone?

Moores has also been sacked, apparently.

As Andy Bull rightly says on Guardian Unlimited, Pietersen’s impulsive decision will split the country. Pietersen is a man of his word, and for that he should be respected, but he is also part of a team and he has let his team-mates down: many England cricket fans will take the latter view.

With KP at the helm, England stood a decent chance in this summer’s Ashes, but with Andrew Strauss in charge - that’s who the ECB will probably turn to - I’m not so sure.

So you think he’s done the right thing?

Anorak

Posted: 7th, January 2009 | In: Sports Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink