Kevin Pietersen's 'Bully' Claim Mocked by Matt Prior Amid Autobiography Release
England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has mocked Kevin Pietersen's claims that he is "back-stabbing," "horrendous" and "bad for the environment" with a jabbing tweet.
Pietersen targeted Prior in his new autobiography, per BBC Sport, with comments that have already forced a reaction from his ex-England team-mate.
The South African-born batsman spoke to Paul Hayward of The Telegraph in an interview published on Sunday night, and he indicated Prior was among the players to bully others in the dressing room.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Pietersen suggests bowlers could get away with mistakes without being lambasted and that Prior led a charge against batsmen when they failed to produce their best form, per Sky Sports:
"The double standard for me was the biggest thing. If one of them messed up – if Jimmy messed up, or Swanny messed up – nothing was ever said. Prior left them alone.
It’s only Prior that I’d seriously have real issues with, because of how he was portrayed as a team man, the heart and soul of the dressing room, when he was getting up to the stuff he was getting up to.
"
Prior responded with a goading tweet, while Paul Kelso of Sky tweeted an image of the book, which is sure to cause quite a stir:
Former England coach Andy Flower is also a topic of hot discussion in Pietersen's book, per BBC Sport. The recently exiled batsman believes Flower "built a regime," not a team, during his spell in charge of the Three Lions.
Such words will win Pietersen few fans after a tempestuous career in which his importance to the England side and his attitude have often split opinion. His troubled relationship with Flower remains raw and reached its breaking point after the recent whitewash Ashes defeat in Australia.
Pietersen was axed from the international line-up despite his often match-defining quality, as Flower reportedly told the England and Wales Cricket Board in January that either the player had to leave or he would quit as boss. Less than a month later, both had happened.
KP has been quick to offer his thoughts on Flower, as reported by the Mirror's Ben Burrows:
"I’ve been one of the only ones who’ve constantly through his reign as coach not said 'how high?’ when he said 'jump’. He built a regime, he didn’t build a team, I’ve told him this before. I told him during his coaching reign. I told him on numerous occasions: 'You’re playing by fear here, you want guys to be scared of you. And Andy I’m not scared of you.’
And he hated it. He had it in for me since I tried to get rid of him as second in command.
"
As noted by BBC Sport, the contract termination that ended Pietersen's England career included a confidentiality policy that "covered all parties" until the end of September. Now, both Pietersen and Flower are free to discuss matters in public.
The batsman has certainly wasted no time in doing so. Despite admitting he wants to play for England again, his comments on both the former coach and the current players ensure a potential return will remain extremely unlikely. Selectors are hardly going to look at Pietersen and believe he represents anything other than a disruptive force at this point.
Alongside his description of Prior, Pietersen also said bowlers, including James Anderson and Stuart Broad, were "given so much power," per BBC Sport.
This quote could hint as to why Pietersen's frustrations spilled over in the way they did. He carried the brunt of criticism as a senior member of the squad—the sign of an important player—but it appears Pietersen rarely received the authority he feels he deserved within the team.
Ian Herbert of The Independent, however, believes Pietersen's criticisms are standard for a player who was single-handedly capable of producing more headlines than the rest of the line-up combined.
He says England received a "self-obsessed, socially dysfunctional sportsman, whose latest ghostwritten story of victimhood published this week maintains the pattern of a 13-year English career in which it always has to be about him."
Even so, Herbert praises the player, saying that "the memory of the moments when Pietersen’s cricket talked for him will always remain for the generation that grew up with them."
Rarely do cricketers conduct their entire careers with the personality of Pietersen, with Shane Warne perhaps the only other star who could match him in terms of speaking his mind.
It's no coincidence that Warne was often under fire for similar occurrences of honesty, as cricket isn't generally made up of players who wish to expose their potentially controversial opinions to the world. These are individuals whose careers have been defined by their quality, assertiveness and ego, meaning clashes of professional opinion were always likely to happen.
English cricket is certainly in transition. This situation should make players such as Pietersen important to the youngsters coming through, but it seems his international career is destined to fizzle out. Prior's reaction to comments in the book are likely to be the first of many from cricketing stars Pietersen has fired shots toward.
There are more than two sides to every story, so it will be interesting to see if either player receives support from his English colleagues in the coming days.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
