Published: Oct 15, 2014, 06:04 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 15, 2014, 06:05 PM (IST)
Oct 15, 2014
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson says that England could have done more to keep Kevin Pietersen playing, as he called for stronger leaderships in international teams amid the recent controversy surrounding English cricket.
Pietersen, who was sacked from England team after their poor show in Australia has complained of bullying in English cricket team.
Watson told Sydney Morning Herald, “I love watching him bat. My personal opinion is that England cricket had to work it out to make sure that they had the environment to be able to include everyone.
“Everyone has got different personalities and that’s part of the skill of the leadership group and the coach to be able to bring those different personalities together. You do have to treat different people much differently to be able to engage them.
“For me, just the most disappointing thing is the fans of world cricket won’t be seeing Kevin Pietersen playing international cricket again. That’s a really sad thing,” Watson added.
Watson said that England always looked as a side which had issues surrounding them even when they were doing well.
“There always seemed to be a few little things that were bubbling along in their team anyway, but that was even during the times when they were dominating as well,” said Watson.
“But that happens in cricket teams when you’re playing together all the time and living in each other’s pocket day in and day out. I didn’t think it was, I suppose, to the extent of what has come out in Kevin Pietersen’s book
Watson said that cricket needs stronger leadership to stay safe from issues.
“What I take out of it is how important having really strong leaders is and how those leaders are able to really complement each other as well. What Michael [Clarke] and Darren [Lehmann] have been able to do to move the ship in the right direction has been brilliant. Their personalities complement each other very well and that for me has been a huge learning curve for not just cricket but for my life after cricket as well.
“Just seeing how important it is for leaders to be able to jell, complement each others’ personalities and to then get the best out of what they’ve got around them and not just sit back and just let it unravel in front of you … the coaches and the leadership are there to make sure these things don’t happen.”
More from Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography here
