Collier issues apology after blaming South Africa for Pietersen saga ? Cricket News Update
Chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board David Collier has issued an apology after having accused the South African players for having goaded batsman Kevin Pietersen into sending the controversial text messages that led to his axing from the national squad.
The prolonged and convoluted spat between Pietersen and the ECB was sparked earlier this year by the batsman?s abrupt retirement from international limited-overs cricket, which gave rise to questions regarding his commitment to national duties.
The relationship between Pietersen and the ECB deteriorated further during South Africa?s tour of England, when the 32-year-old was revealed to have sent text messages, of a questionable nature, to members of the rival Proteas team. The startling development led the ECB to drop Pietersen from the squad for the third and final Test, as well as the 15-man line-up for the ICC World Twenty20 2012.
While both parties recently managed to reach a resolution, with the ECB deciding to put Pietersen through a ?reintegration? programme before he could rejoin the team, Collier opened the can of worms yet again in a recent interview with the BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.
With the board having been provided Pietersen?s reassurance that the messages had contained neither tactical advice, nor derogatory comments about then skipper Andrew Strauss, as had been alleged, Collier claimed during the interview that the messages had been sent as replies to goading from the Proteas players, who had used provocative text messages as a tactic to disturb the Poms during the series.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) immediately rose to the defence, with CSA?s acting chief executive Jacques Faul claiming he was disappointed with the unfounded accusations, while the SACA demanded that Collier apologise for having questioned the ethics and values of the Proteas players. A meeting between the CSA and ECB appears to have achieved the desired results, as revealed by a joint statement issued by both boards.
?CSA and ECB have discussed the events which led to Kevin Pietersen's non-selection for the third test,? read the statement.
?Cricket South Africa has made clear to ECB that the electronic messages were not part of any initiative or plan to undermine the England team or players. ECB has unreservedly accepted that assurance and wishes to reiterate that it has no issue at all with CSA - or the Proteas players - on this matter and appreciates that the South African and England players follow the highest ethical standards of behaviour.?
The release went on to state that while CSA and the ECB did not agree on the finer details of the Pietersen saga, CSA and the SACA had accepted Collier?s apology, and both boards now regarded the matter as closed.
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