Kevin Pietersen lays into ICC for hectic World Cup schedule
The outspoken English middle-order batsman, Kevin Pietersen, feels that the schedule of the World Cup cricket tournament is ridiculous and is set to drain the English players.
The Poms would be arriving in India for the tournament after a grueling tour of Australia that included the Ashes series and a seven match ODI series.
Pietersen, who is taking part in the ODI series Down Under, feels that his team would have its energy sapped by the time the tour ends and they embark upon their World Cup campaign.
There is only a three day cushion at the end of the tour before the start of the premier ODI tournament.
Pietersen, who has a knack of never mincing his words, stated that over the years the English teams have been harshly dealt with as far as schedules were concerned, which has affected their performance in the flagship International
Cricket Council event.
“Our schedule is ridiculous going into this World Cup”, Pietersen said. "It has been for England teams for a very long time, and that's probably why England has not done well in World Cups". He was also aggrieved with the way the group
games would pan out for the three time finalists.
"How can the England team play once and then in six days' time play again, and then in six days' time play again?", he asked. "It's ridiculous but there's nothing we can do about the schedules. I wouldn't say we're going to be knackered
because it's going to be the World Cup, and we all want to win this World Cup".
Meanwhile, KP is happy with the performance of the team in the ODI series in Australia despite conceding an unassailable 4-1 lead in the seven match encounter.
The Aussies won the opening three games before the English team made a comeback with a fine win on Australia Day at the Adelaide Oval.
However, their joy was cut short when the hosts trounced them by 51 runs in the fifth match at the Gabba in Brisbane. KP added that the team has done well recently and they are keen on improving further in the last two games and are
keen on turning the tables on their arch rivals.
The big hitter thinks that the English team would fight on for the World Cup despite their extremely hectic schedule. He thinks that the team is a combination of young and experienced men, who have the desire to cap off their remarkable
run in all formats of the game, with an elusive World Cup win.
KP thinks that the current tour in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 has enhanced the skills of the team as the hosts are extremely tough to beat at home, which in a way is the kind of preparation that the team needs ahead of the coveted tournament.
"The batsmen have improved, the fielding is top-notch, our catching is incredible, and our bowling is so skilful. I just think our skill levels are really, really good".
The English team is placed in Group B of the World Cup and has the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 to tackle in their preliminary round matches.
England won the T20 World Championship at the Caribbean last year. They were led by Paul Collingwood, while KP was the star attraction of the event, which was the first ever major win at the highest level of the game for the founders
of the sport.
They would hope that they finally break their jinx of the 50 overs World Cup by the time the tournament ends on the 2nd of April at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820.
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