“It was a crass idea to put together such a report to try to trash Kevin”
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Legendary England batsman Geoffrey Botcott has lashed out at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the leaked ‘dossier’ that recently surfaced.
The ‘dossier’ portrays former batsman Kevin Pietersen in a very bad light and also reveals that he was the biggest troublemaker in the national team.
Boycott was infuriated that the ECB created a ‘dossier’ that outlines all the problems one player has had throughout specific points in his career.
The ‘dossier’ brings to light how Pietersen seemed “disengaged” during team meetings and had threatened to return home during the last Ashes series in Australia if England found themselves 3-0 down.
“This has been a sorry week for English cricket, but the England and Wales Cricket Board started this farce with Kevin Pietersen so it should not try to take the moral high ground,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “Kevin is a sinner but he has been sinned against by the ECB. There are rights and wrongs on both sides and whatever Pietersen’s faults, the ECB is not blameless.
“For me, it reached its lowest point on Tuesday when a ‘strictly confidential’ ECB document was leaked to the media. The points it contained were pathetic and it was a crass idea to put together such a report to try to trash Kevin. It stinks.
“Whoever dreamt that up is not fit to lead English cricket. Kevin has been a fantastic batsman for England. He thrilled millions and helped win matches for the England team that enabled some people at the ECB to bask in reflected glory.
“Yes Kevin was awkward, difficult, different and at times his own worst enemy. But his record and his performances do not deserve a character assassination. The ECB should be dignified about it all and not try to belittle him.
“I hope the ECB is investigating how one of its confidential documents reached the public domain. If it discovers someone within the ECB leaked it then they should get the sack. If nobody is sacked then we can only assume that the ECB was happy or even complicit with the document being leaked in order to denigrate Kevin.”
Boycott was also seething about the @KPgenius parody account that was created in 2012 since Pietersen revealed that it left him in tears.
“If any player is involved in helping to publicly embarrass a team colleague, it is not acceptable,” he said. “Flower should have dealt with that as coach, or the captain, Andrew Strauss. Any player involved should have been suspended because it was not funny.
“The problem was that Flower and Kevin did not get on, so Andy probably could not be bothered and Andrew Strauss was getting ready to quit as captain, so neither of them wanted the aggravation. Once again the ECB failed in its duty.”
Boycott added that the ECB should summon the courage to tell Pietersen why his international career was ended prematurely.
“I’d be miffed if my career had been finished for no reasons given,” he said. “It’s actually a pretty big thing when you’ve got a very talented player…(and) a country says, ‘Fine, we want to move on without you’.
“I think [both parties] have a duty to the public to say what their reasons are.”