Players' association doesn't want English board to ban Twitter
If it wasn't for the match-fixing scandal that has broken out in England on Pakistan's current tour, Kevin Pietersen’s recent tweet might have been the biggest news of the week. After being thrown off the English team due to bad form, Pietersen went on to tweet, “Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too. It’s a f**k up!!” on his Twitter account.
In addition to throwing a tantrum over his exclusion, he also revealed that he would be playing for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 for the rest of the season, something that had not yet been officially announced.
Only recently, the English cricket board was contemplating the introduction of a clause in English cricketer’s contracts which would prevent them from using any social networking websites during a series. The decision to potentially ban social networking websites arose from an incident concerning Under-19 cricketer, Azeem Rafiq. Rafiq was banned from cricket for a month and penalised £500 in July after he had tweeted an equally foul-mouth comment against Under-19 coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
The ECB is now serious about implementing the ban on the social networking sites, but they are likely to hit a roadblock. The Professional Cricketers Association of England has opposed any such ban; they simply don't see it as the best solution. According to Angus Porter, the CEO of PCA, it is the players’ responsibility to use any form of social media cautiously, just like when they write columns. And according to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Porter-c82384, the cricketer must realise that much like columns, there are lines to be drawn. Even on Twitter or Facebook.
On one website, Porter added, “It's about how we manage new media and there are discussions underway about whether that means focusing on one particular outlet or site.” He also said that it was difficult to imagine life without the existence of the social networking sites, and if used correctly, they can go a long way to promote the game.
But there have been other instances where lines have been crossed. In 2009, Tim Bresnan had to apologise after an abusive outburst towards a fan on Twitter. In another case, Phil Hughes revealed his selection in the Australian team in the Ashes before a game.
While Porter did not specifically mention the Pietersen incident, there were others who commented on Pietersen's actions. Former captain Michael Vaughan said that Pietersen will regret the tweet at a later stage, whereas the chief selector, Geoff Miller, said that he will have a talk with the English middle-order batsman.
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