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Kevin Pietersen-ECB controversy: Pietersen speaks about axing

Pietersen discarded rumours of a confrontation with teammate James Taylor.

Kevin Pietersen © Getty Images
Kevin Pietersen blasted Graeme Swann and Andy Flower, among others, in his book © Getty Images

Oct 12, 2014

Kevin Pietersen’s newly released book, ‘KP: The Autobiography’ has already caused controversies within England cricket and is making rounds in the market. He has drawn to attention the bullying culture in the England dressing room along with fear.

Pietersen also blasted former coach Andy Flower and players Graeme Swann and Matt Prior, reports The Telegraph UK. “Let’s look at the all-round situation. Yes, it looks bad, my situation looks bad but a lot of things were happening and at the end of the day my messages were nothing but banter,” said Pietersen to Telegraph Sport on the text-message row.

“Andy Flower called a meeting to say how much he felt Swann had let the whole team down. He didn’t approve of Swanny jumping ship in the middle of an Ashes series. It was totally wrong.” he spoke on Swann who quit during the middle of the Ashes series.

However, Pietersen denied that he too had threatened to quit in the middle of the Ashes series as was mentioned in the leaked document of the ECB. He said: “No, no. Why would I do that? It’s a ridiculous story.”

“The only issue was with my knee. I almost didn’t play in that Test. My knee was really hurting. I was batting the day before the Test and I walked out of the nets and told Andy that I was really struggling. I called the physio over. But that’s not the same as trying to quit a tour, is it? I had the option of micro-fracture surgery before the Ashes in England but I said ‘No, I want to play these 10 Tests’,” he added.

Speaking on the bullying issue, Pietersen discarded rumours of any confrontation with teammate James Taylor and criticising him at Headingly in 2012. “There’s this lie out there that I rubbished him in front of the team. It’s not true. I spoke to Andy Flower about him. It was a private conversation,” he said.

“It was a senior player talking to the coach in private. I expressed my views when asked. To have private conversations turned into a media story on Monday morning that I was ridiculing James Taylor in the dressing room is ridiculous,” he added.

However, Pietersen believes that his bullying allegations would be supported by many other players soon. “I needed to bring up that issue. It wasn’t a nice environment. Guys were picked on big time. Some other players will come out eventually and say the same thing,” he concluded.

More from Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography here

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