KP

Interesting selcetion for Thursday 3rd test!!

Pietersen left out. Has his ego finally worn down his team mates and selectors?

Hugn Morris issued this statement;

“During the past week we have held several discussions with Kevin Pietersen and his advisors. Following a constructive meeting it was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room.

“A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team.

“This has not been forthcoming despite clear timelines being set to allow the selectors to pick the squad for the third Investec Test. We provided an additional six hours this morning to provide every opportunity for agreement to be reached but regrettably this has not been possible.

“The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust. Whilst we have made every attempt to find a solution to enable Kevin to be selected we have sadly had to conclude that, in the best interest of the team, he will miss the Lord's Test.”

National selector Geoff Miller added: “We need a squad fully focussed on this Test match to be able to play the sort of cricket we know is necessary if we are to win this week and level the series.

“The second Investec Test was a marked improvement on our performance at the start of the series but we are aware we will need to play some very good cricket this week if we are to level this series.

“While there were positives to take from a number of areas at Headingley Carnegie we know we will need to show further improvement if we are win at Lord's. There is plenty of international experience amongst this squad and they will all be determined to play to their full potential this week."

An interesting situation which could allow more flexibility to play 5 bowlers. Will KP now pack his bags and join the T20 world tour? On a personal note im glad I was at Headingley on Saturday last week to see him bat at his best.

Brave decision dropping a man who scored 149 a week ago. Clearly recent goings-on have broken the camel's back.

Quoted from EarAche

An interesting situation which could allow more flexibility to play 5 bowlers. Will KP now pack his bags and join the T20 world tour? On a personal note im glad I was at Headingley on Saturday last week to see him bat at his best.

Me too

Trouble with Pieterson is he's brilliant at his best but over-confident in his hitting a lot of the time, which usually ends up with him bowled out on 20 or 30 after trying a stupid shot which the bowler knew he was likely to try because that's what he does. Brilliant, but recklessness too often costs him and us. Bit like our Bradders

No one person is bigger than the team as a whole, and that has been proved time and time again. Look at Beckham and Manchester United when the celebrity circus finally got to Sir Alex. It's happened many times before, it'll happen many times again. It's sad because on his day there's no more thrilling batsman to watch anywhere in the world. The positives of dressing room harmony have obviously outweighed the potential of his match winning opportunities. That being the case, England have got it exactly right.

When will sports stars learn that twitter is more bother than it's worth? You normally need a brain to realise that there are bound to be reactions to controversial tweets, and that's something that's sadly lacking in some of them, especially footballers.

Quoted from upthestripes

Trouble with Pieterson is he's brilliant at his best but over-confident in his hitting a lot of the time, which usually ends up with him bowled out on 20 or 30 after trying a stupid shot which the bowler knew he was likely to try because that's what he does. Brilliant, but recklessness too often costs him and us. Bit like our Bradders

He averages nearly 50 in Test Cricket - this decision is nothing to do with his ability or his record. If you picked on ability and record alone he'd be one of the first on the team-sheet but he's clearly causing a divide in the dressing room and given he wouldn't deny sending derogatory texts about Strauss to South African players how could they do anything but drop him.

Hopefully he might find just a tiny smidgen of humility and apologise properly, then once he's served a brief spell on the sidelines he'll be back in the team.

Glad FIGJAM is out of the team. Bat's in a test like its a 20/20, the way he played in the 2nd innings at Lord's was the stupidest thing you could do while trying to get a draw. Since 09 he has been inconsistent and usually comes up with one good innings to keep his place in the side.

Foolish for what he did but will serve his little ban and will return.
UTMM

If the allegations in the papers yesterday are true, that he texted tactical advice on how to dismiss Strauss to the South African players, then he can't ever play for England again can he?