I really think Harmison needs to go after this series. He is a classic 'rubber dinghy man' as Jay said. Doesnt care at all, and see's cricket purely as a job rather than a passion.

Rumour is that Fletcher is sick of Harmisons attitude to Cricket, and would have dropped him were it not for Fred being Captain.

Pietersen started to 'sulk' at Notts because he realised that the county was going nowhere quickly, and were thrilled about it.

Silly Point was ridiculed here for suggesting KP has an attitude problem

quote:

Originally posted by High Hopes:

quote:

Originally posted by Rowman:

quote:

Originally posted by Mister Robby:
Well, if the criterion for captaincy selection is runs scored, may as well give it to KP.

Too often over the last 20 years England have dug a deeper hole for themselves than what they already had by ignoring a very important factor when appointing Captains IMO.
It's one thing to want to dump the Captain you have but to appoint just anybody regardless of their form at the time is a mistake.
I'm not suggesting the Captain has to be the best player, simply whoever gets the job needs to be in good form before they are given any more responsability.

Yeah, so he can lose whatever form he has too? I thought it should be obvious not to burden/over-burden your best player/or a player in good form with the reins of reign. Form is definitely not independent of other factors like captaincy. I'd rather go for one with an acute cricketing common sense and leadership qualities - so by default people with big egos (clashing with other egos within the team) are out of the question.

Be honest with yourself for a change. Appointing successful Captains is something the English know very little about.

He doesnt have an attitude problem. He's just a winner amongst a lot of guys who dont hurt enough when they lose.

During last years Ashes, it was rumoured that Ponting and Warne were at odds in the dressing room, and that was after a first series loss in 4 years for Australia.

Apparently 5 England players opted to have Christmas lunch with their wives and Girlfriends rather than with the team on Christmas day.

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Dello:

I get the impression a number of players in the England set-up are shoulder-shruggers who just plod along happily whatever the weather - but Pietersen's not one of them. He's angry and he's driven.

Satisfied with being average and knowing fully well they can never be the best. Yes, that happens not just in cricket.

Kevin is not an average or merely good cricketer though and his frustration is understandable

And the Ozzie team had it together?

If Smith is sacked as Captain and South Africa rise up the rankings again, I can see KP wanting to jump ship on England.

quote:

Originally posted by Silly Point:

quote:

Originally posted by Honiyan:
Wonder on what issue...A woman perhaps?

I doubt it. Flintoff is a married guy and he is not a character that will go chasing after every woman he sees, unlike Pietersen, who does not seem to have any morals.

He's South African

If Pietersen wasn't angry right now, you'd have to wonder what was wrong with him.

He's been let down badly by his team-mates this summer.

And Flintoff doesn't deserve respect as captain. Should never have been in the job.

quote:

He doesnt have an attitude problem. He's just a winner amongst a lot of guys who dont hurt enough when they lose.

That's the Norman's desk calendar version. The other is that he's feeling sorry for himself as the eagle surrounded by turkeys. Which may be an accurate view, but the guy's still only been on the scene ten minutes and in the short term that's going to get up noses.

Pietersen reminds me a lot of the AFL's Nathan Buckley at the same age He copped the same criticisms, had the same massive talent and the same negligible grasp of the concept of team sport. Just as he was starting to show signs of growing up at last, he was made captain, thrived on the responsibility and his team improved out of sight.

Not quite at the Shane Warne stage of his career, the arrogant young pup with the big mouth of 1995 is a universally respected elder-statesman of his sport of 2006. If handled properly, there is no reason Pietersen can't be there in 2016.

quote:

Not quite at the Shane Warne stage of his career, the arrogant young pup with the big mouth of 1995 is a universally respected elder-statesman of his sport of 2006. If handled properly, there is no reason Pietersen can't be there in 2016.

LOL

What about all his scandals and a drug cheat problems? Not quite the saint you picture him to be....

Of course Honey, whatever....

smooch

Cricinfo:

"The difficulty in getting Pietersen to fit in with the side's plan was highlighted by Buchanan when he said Pietersen seemed to be distanced from the group. "He talks about how much of a team man he is, but I can't see that," Buchanan said. Pietersen was one of four England players who did not attend the team's large Christmas lunch the day before the Test.

Buchanan has also noticed Pietersen spending a lot of time fielding on the boundary when his skills could be used better inside the ring. "I wonder whether the criticism of him is because he's different from the group," Buchanan said. "Difference is important in a team dynamic, we have some different players in our team, but it's how the difference is managed."

quote:

Originally posted by poisoned:
Cricinfo:

"The difficulty in getting Pietersen to fit in with the side's plan was highlighted by Buchanan when he said Pietersen seemed to be distanced from the group. "He talks about how much of a team man he is, but I can't see that," Buchanan said. Pietersen was one of four England players who did not attend the team's large Christmas lunch the day before the Test.

Buchanan has also noticed Pietersen spending a lot of time fielding on the boundary when his skills could be used better inside the ring. "I wonder whether the criticism of him is because he's different from the group," Buchanan said. "Difference is important in a team dynamic, we have some different players in our team, but it's how the difference is managed."

Seems that Buchanan has a keen eye on the English side is he making a play for Fletchers job?

quote:

Originally posted by Nimrod:
Strauss should have been captain from the beginning of the series.

It will amount to nothing more than a joke if Flintoff keeps the captaincy for the one day series.

If Strauss had been given the captaincy, it could of helped his batting, much as the same way it helped Gooch's batting when he became captain.

quote:

Originally posted by Honiyan:
Wonder on what issue...A woman perhaps?

Was that the real reason Gilo went home????

The plot thickens............

quote:

Originally posted by Mr Watermelon:
Apparently 5 England players opted to have Christmas lunch with their wives and Girlfriends rather than with the team on Christmas day.

I'd be sick of the sight of the other players after having lost all the time on tour, too right i'd be having Christmas dinner with family instead.

Is KP still doing Caprice?

No, he's engaged to Michelle-out-of-Liberty-X now.

quote:

Is KP still doing Caprice?

Thought he was in Sydney!

quote:

Originally posted by Mister Robby:
No, he's engaged to Michelle-out-of-Liberty-X now.

You mean Jessica-out-of-Liberty-X now.

What an odd hyphenated surname.... Out-of-Liberty-X now.
Are they sisters perchance?

Ain't it funny that the team spirit collapsed when Gilo went home. Fletcher always said Gilo was a good team man. The fall out between Pietersen and Flintoff can be traced to his departure home. Yet another reason for Gilo to be re-instated.