England’s right hand batsman raised a huge hue and cry on the micro-blogging website, Twitter on Wednesday morning. He vented his anger against the ground staff of the Adelaide Oval because of rain water on the pitch that prevented
him and his team mates from practicing outdoor.
However, English Captain Andrew Strauss was diplomatic as ever when he said that “I wouldn’t prefer all of my players to be exactly like me.”
The skipper said that it is good that the players are not “boring” as he is, otherwise the dressing room would showcase a rather dull atmosphere.
Strauss told the curious media that the English Cricket Board (ECB) won’t be taking any action under disciplinary charges against the South African born batsman for his fuming rant.
Strauss insisted that “KP (Kevin Pietersen) did not overstep the line.”
He, however, urged his team mates to use the website with great responsibility to avoid any mishaps during the Ashes tour.
The Australian media slammed the English player for blaming the Aussie ground staff of the Adelaide Oval whereas the British tabloids blew the story out of proportion saying KP must focus on his game.
The ECB has been keen to avoid such controversies and therefore, introduced a set of guidelines before the team left for the land Down Under. The guidelines were based on what to post and what not to.
Pietersen especially, has a rather spotty history in using the 140-character website. ECB took ‘disciplinary action’ against the flamboyant batsman as he ranted against the Board when he was dropped from the One Day team in August
this year.
The tourists were restricted to practice indoors while Pietersen slammed the grounds men saying that their failure of covering the nets practice area from the rain was “pathetic”- in capital letters.
Strauss, justified Pietersen’s frustration saying he wanted to have a long session in the nets to practice ahead of the second Test match starting from 3rd December, Friday.
Strauss stressed that he hopes that the team adheres fully to the given Twitter guidelines and act responsibly.
The English Captain, who himself is not a big fan of the website, said that it is good that the team comprises of different people who have their likes and dislikes and some people enjoy Twitter the way he doesn’t. He conceded
that the website definitely helps in “broadening the appeal of the game.”
Strauss concluded by praising the authorities in Adelaide that they looked after the touring party “exceptionally well.”
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