Published: Apr 10, 2014, 12:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 10, 2014, 12:28 PM (IST)
London: Apr 10, 2014
The recent edition of the revered cricket almanac Wisden has backed England for axing controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen, although it agreed that the ‘biggest losers’ in this debacle was the public, who deserved to know exactly what went on. The 151st edition of the Almanack, also called as the ‘cricketing Bible’, has delivered its verdict on the England and Wales Cricket Board‘s (ECB) decision to dump their leading run-scorer after the dismal winter Ashes, and pronounced ‘the part’s over’.
According to the Mirror, editor Lawrence Booth believes that the ECB took the right decision to axe Pietersen even without explaining their decision to the public as full disclosure is ‘legally fraught and ethically unadvisable’, although he added that the ‘biggest losers were the public’.
Even though Booth conceded that talent should be accommodated at any cost, he however, said that with a new managing director, new chief selector, an upcoming replacement for Andy Flower and a captain with an urgent need to improve, English cricket was hardly likely to hamper itself for the sake of Pietersen.
However, Booth further said that the public may now be less inclined to watch a team deprived of their main box-office attraction, adding that the months ahead will be filled by cheap shots, especially if Pietersen ‘dazzles in some T20 league while England’s Test team are folding in a heap’.
