Kevin Pietersen's Autobiography.

[Gingerfinch]

Mybe Swann was asked to leave against his wishes? Doubtful though.

[yuppie]

Mybe Swann was asked to leave against his wishes? Doubtful though.

Why would he be asked to leave the tour though. Surely they would want to keep him there for his experience and help? Even bowling in the nets.

Sure drop him, but hes been picked for the tour, so should stay? Pretty big news to ask someone to leave a tour, no matter how bad they are performing? Specially consdering swans test record.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well, I mentioned possible reasons. I'll get back to you if KP gets on to it.

KP really doesn't like Prior, which at this point is difficult to grasp. Certainly, Cheese appears to like KP. It seems to hinge on two things. In fact, let me made a leap of imagination that gets me pulled up sometimes. I wonder if Cheese is a team man who doesn't really question what he does, but enthusiastically does what he thinks is expected of him, way beyond the point where it is helpful.

Like Gabriel Oak's new dog in Far From the Madding Crowd, who only knows his job is to herd sheep, and who will do it at any time, in any circumstance, to the point where he herds them over a cliff. And so if Prior thought his job was to reintegrate KP, he would do it endlessly, way beyond the point that it was painful to KP. Or if he thought it was his job to keep the fielders on their toes, he would do it without question, until the fielder was scared to touch the ball; but he had done his job.

He's done nothing wrong, and yet... Gabriel Oak has no livelihood and is on the road to a labour fair, and has shot his sheepdog through the head.

[Gingerfinch]

Maybe something happened behind the scenes? Yes, very doubtful.

[Gingerfinch]

Gabriel Oak? Your old moniker, Arthur?

[Aidan11]

Still no resignation from Giles Clarke.

[Arthur Crabtree]

As KP says:

'I remember an instance in Kolkata. Sachin Tendulkar was under a hell of a lot of pressure; he'd been having a really bad run. Tendulkar hit one to mid-on with Finn bowling and Jimmy Anderson misfielded. Silence. I braced myself, but not a word. I'm wondering, what the **** is going on? I mean Jimmy has let Sachin off the mark and taken a lot of pressure off him. I'm waiting. There'll be **** in the air now. Surely? Nothing was said. Now if that was Panesar or Samit Patel or Trotty, oh, it would have been carnage out there.

'Don't think those guys didn't notice, either.

'This is what I was being reintegrated into. I was supposed to sit down and shut up in the corner of a dysfunctional dressing room.'


I'm wondering if Bairstow was a target. He often looked under pressure in the field.

The India series turned at the time Prior stopped playing. Coincidence? Probably.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Gabriel Oak? Your old moniker, Arthur?

Yes. I like Thomas Hardy.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Still no resignation from Giles Clarke.

The only justice is the one you make happen.

[hopeforthebest]

Well, I mentioned possible reasons. I'll get back to you if KP gets on to it.

KP really doesn't like Prior, which at this point is difficult to grasp. Certainly, Cheese appears to like KP. It seems to hinge on two things. In fact, let me made a leap of imagination that gets me pulled up sometimes. I wonder if Cheese is a team man who doesn't really question what he does, but enthusiastically does what he thinks is expected of him, way beyond the point where it is helpful.

Like Gabriel Oak's new dog in Far From the Madding Crowd, who only knows his job is to herd sheep, and who will do it at any time, in any circumstance, to the point where he herds them over a cliff. And so if Prior thought his job was to reintegrate KP, he would do it endlessly, way beyond the point that it was painful to KP. Or if he thought it was his job to keep the fielders on their toes, he would do it without question, until the fielder was scared to touch the ball; but he had done his job.

He's done nothing wrong, and yet... Gabriel Oak has no livelihood and is on the road to a labour fair, and has shot his sheepdog through the head.

Nice piece AC and appropriate that you should introduce fictional characters into a discussion on this autobiography.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm just delivering the news Hope.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Anyway, this one is for you:

'By the time we got to New Zealand in spring 2013, the Cheese had been made permanent vice-captain. It made the Big Cheese puff out a bit.

'Flower asked me at one stage who I would have chosen for vice-captain.

'I would have picked Ian Bell, I said, because he was in the batting group and it would have taken power away from the clique, who would then have had to deal with the rest of the team in a much more professional manner.

'Flower said, well, Bell doesn't speak much.

'I didn't agree. People don't give Bell the credit he deserves. They've never really let him speak. I mean he's a very quiet guy; he's not going to force that space for himself. The fact that he's not overconfident doesn't mean he couldn't be a very good vice-captain. It probably means the dressing room should change in order to allow quiet, thoughtful guys like Bell to make a contribution. Look at Cook: he's the captain and he's an introvert. He doesn't talk up a storm, but he is sincere.'

Of course, it implies a problem with Cook. He is a batter, and the captain, but unable to protect those who need it.

[Arthur Crabtree]

KP feels a bit like the kid in the sixth form who is in a band and has a car and a girlfriend, laughing at the expense of an earnest, dorky kid with too many rather gauche, unsophisticated enthusiasms. In normal circumstances, they just wouldn't spend time together. Prior probably looks up to Pietersen. But KP just feels embarrassed when he sees Matt at the back of one of his gigs, hanging around with more guys just like Matt.

If that kid starts doing well for himself. If he starts to happen. How much worse. A dairylee triangle thinking he was Brie?

[KipperJohn]

Work is a tough place to be isn't it?

What a load of belly aching which you don't hear from aid workers, oil rig and construction people, medics, servicemen - thousands work long distances away from home without their families for extended periods of time

These are highly paid, well looked after, professional sportsmen doing exactly what they want with their lives - playing a game they love

Depression and other mental disorders is generally misunderstood. You don't have to be a hero to suffer from it, and you don't have to be from a high risk group to have it.

Not sure of the point here? All the groups above are known to have extremely high levels of mental disorders, and well documented too. So in a way, you do "hear about it".

I'm well aware of anxiety and depression having battled with it all my life and have made my views clear on that subject - particularly on the JT illness thread. My comments about the ECB were also left out.

What sticks out a mile is that, even with all the facilities and support at their disposal, neither the management or many of the players have shown much, if any, maturity in their conduct - petty personal agendas are pretty obvious and are now being played out and pursued in public, to the delight of the media and the shame of English cricket..

[hopeforthebest]

It seems Pietersen is like a time traveler who has gone to a place and observed much unpleasantness but obeys the time travelers code that he must not interfere in such a way that changes the course of history. Now on his return he feels able to chronicle the events as he remembers them.