Kevin Pietersen: World Cricket's Clown of the Month, January 2015

Roll up, roll up, it's that time of month again. Yes, it's time for the Bleacher Report's highly sought-after World Cricket Clown of the Month award, and this month it's the turn of a perennial candidate.

You could almost be forgiven for thinking Kevin Pietersen was the official spokesperson for the Big Bash League, such has been his unrelenting praise of the Australian Twenty20 competition during his stint Down Under.

However, the talented batsman recently went a step too far when, during a statement on English cricket's domestic game, as reported by BBC, the 34-year-old came out with the following sentence: "All the muppets who are on £18,000 or £15,000—either you become better or you go and do something else. The best players would play against each other, week in week out. That's how you become better."

Yes, for some reason Pietersen used the word "muppets" to describe a large cross-section of young cricketers who, for the most part, are trying desperately hard to improve and progress in the professional game.

Just like himself when he was youngster trying to make the grade at KwaZulu-Natal and then when he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2000 with the English county structure giving him a chance.

Basically, while the overall sentiment is, perhaps, an interesting discussion point, the way he said it and terminology used...was just stupid. It earns KP the coveted Bleacher Report "Clown of the Month" title.

But before the champers is uncorked, it has to be said, if there was a second place award then Pietersen would probably win that also.

Even earlier in January, the man with over 8,000 Test runs made yet more waves when he told Ricky Ponting during commentary for the Big Bash League on Australian television, as reported here by ESPNcricinfo, that the new England skipper, Eoin Morgan, wanted him in his team: “I know the current England captain would love me in the side."

The comment embarrassed Morgan, who was still trying to establish his leadership, and put him on the spot, forcing him into a denial during a team press conference.

But these are the sort of things we've come to expect from the rollercoaster ride that is Pietersen's cricketing career.

Ever since being unceremoniously dumped from the England team, he has primarily plied his trade in T20 cricket with mixed success, leading the Delhi Daredevils to the wooden spoon in the Indian Premier League but finishing as the second-highest run scorer in the BBL with 293 runs from just eight innings.

And that's the real shame of it. That Pietersen, ahead of an action-packed year including a World Cup and an Ashes series will, despite being in the prime of his career, play no part in either.

Anyway, hopefully KP can take some solace from winning Bleacher Report's World Cricket Clown of the Month Award for January.