The extraordinary Kevin Pietersen saga enveloping English cricket took another surprise turn as Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on the subject, indicating that he had sympathy for the batsman after England appeared to bring his career to an end on Tuesday.
Cameron, who has been spotted at Test matches during the English summer, spoke fondly of his experiences of watching KP bat for his country. Per The Sun's Ali Martin:
David Cameron speaks out in support of Kevin Pietersen "I have had some of my most enjoyable times watching him tonking the ball"
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) February 6, 2014
Furthermore, he suggested he felt Pietersen was hard done by to be dropped after suggesting his views echoed those of prominent KP defender Piers Morgan:
Prime Minister on KP: "Not often I have sympathy with P Morgan but thought he was making quite a powerful argument this morning."
— Tom Collomosse (@TomCStandard) February 6, 2014
Morgan has been heard across traditional and social media, furious at Pietersen's omission for the upcoming tour of the West Indies and next month's World Twenty20, which effectively signals the end of his England career.
He tweeted his delight to be on the same side as the Prime Minister:
Not often I'd welcome your support, Prime Minister @David_Cameron - but let us go forward together... > #BringBackKP
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 6, 2014
Morgan was also involved in a bitter exchange with England wicketkeeper Matthew Prior over details of a dressing room conflict, which he believed could have played a part in KP's downfall.
Prior took to Twitter to deny the accusations.
He was backed up by teammate Tim Bresnan in an additional tweet this morning:
I was in that TEAM meeting and @MattPrior13 said nothing wrong. And only ever has the TEAMs best interests at heart. Undeserved criticism
— Tim Bresnan (@timbresnan) February 6, 2014
What is clear, however, is that many questions remain unanswered—not least whether more was happening behind the scenes that justified KP's removal, who leaked reports of a fallout to then England cricket director Andy Flower, and what more remains to come out from behind the scenes of this wretched Ashes tour.
