Collier owes Proteas players an apology: South African Cricketers' Association – Cricket News Update
Suggesting that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 into sending the controversial text messages which led
to his axing, Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA), has demanded an apology from Collier on behalf of his organisation and the Proteas players.
“Our players are angered by David Collier's claims that they employed unfair and unsporting tactics against Kevin,” said Irish. “By his own admission Mr Collier never saw any text messages, or correspondence, and we know that Kevin himself has never suggested
that he was provoked, so where is the evidence for this claim?
“In international cricket, if a player makes an inflammatory comment or accusation he gets punished. Look what happened to Kevin Pietersen himself. The players think that the same should apply to administrators, especially when this is done publicly. Our
players are awaiting an apology.”
The relationship between Pietersen and the ECB took a downward turn when the right-hander announced his retirement from international limited-overs cricket earlier this year, and reached boiling point during South Africa’s tour of England.
Following the second Test match against the Proteas, Pietersen called a press conference during which he hinted at a rift between himself and the rest of the England players in the dressing room. However, the situation took a turn for the worse when it was
revealed that the 32-year-old had sent questionable text messages to members of the rival South African team.
While the content of the messages was unclear (with some suggesting they contained tactical advice on how to get England’s then Test captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 out, while other reports suggested the messages contained derogatory remarks targeting Strauss and
team director http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
Following a series of recent talks between Pietersen and the ECB, the issue finally appears to be on the mend. However, ECB chief executive Collier further exacerbated the situation over the weekend when he alleged, during an interview with the BBC, that
the visiting South African team had deliberately provoked Pietersen into sending the text messages, as a tactic to distract the Poms from the Test series at hand (which they went on to lose, along with their top Test team ranking).
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