Successful performance in India will smooth over Pietersen issue: Flintoff – Cricket News Update
Former England captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 saga, which has plagued the team throughout their troubled and controversial summer.
Having spent up to 73 days out of the national team after he was axed owing to his role in a major controversy, Pietersen was included in England’s squad for their upcoming tour of India yesterday. While the process of slipping back into the set-up is likely to be far from seamless, Flintoff is convinced a good performance in India will go a long way in helping the team leave the issue behind.
“I'm sure there'll be a few words in the dressing room, in certain ears, to make sure it's a smooth transition going back in,” said Flintoff while speaking to BBC Radio’s Five Live. “But in a few months' time, if we start performing well in India, this will be forgotten.
“What tends to happen is that when a team's doing well, everyone talks about the team spirit, togetherness and how everyone gets on,” Flintoff went on to explain. “It's tested when you don't perform.
“When you start having a few bad results, little groups form in the dressing room and people start talking, and that's when it can happen.”
Pietersen and the England and Wales Cricket Board clashed this summer in what is likely to be one of the most well-publicised tiffs between a player and the management.
With doubts having arisen regarding his commitment to the England team, alongside rumours of his strained relations with the ECB and an acrimonious relationship with many of his teammates (which he went on to confirm in a press conference during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s tour of England this summer), the issue boiled over after Pietersen was revealed to have sent text messages containing questionable content to members of the South African squad.
The 32-year-old was immediately axed from the national team, and while Pietersen issued an apology, he remained out of the national squad, even for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Twenty20, despite his extensive experience in the T20 format. The rift between Pietersen and his England teammate widened further when he accused several England players of having created a spoof Twitter account with the purpose of mocking him.
However, a string of meeting with ECB officials and team management, including team director http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
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