Botham calls for Pietersen row to end
Ian Botham believes dispute between England and Kevin Pietersen, pictured, should be handled in private
Former England captain Ian Botham has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board and Kevin Pietersen to settle their differences ahead of the third Investec Test against South Africa at Lord's next week, and claims the stand-off "reflects poorly" on the game.
Pietersen has refused to give any assurances over his Test career beyond the match at Lord's, having talked about "obstacles" that needed to be overcome in order for him to continue after the drawn second match of the series at Headingley earlier this week. But Botham would like to see the matter sorted out ahead of the final clash with the Proteas.
"Those sort of things should be dealt with in private between the people involved, not in the open in the run-up to a huge Test match," Botham wrote in his column in the Daily Mirror.
"It reflects poorly on the team, poorly on the game and poorly on everyone involved. It must be sorted out like grown-ups."
Botham added: "They should not be airing their dirty linen in public."
But Angus Porter, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, believes Pietersen may not be able to solve his differences with the ECB.
"I can't see any immediate prospect of a rapprochement. He's likely to play next week but it becomes an issue with the next contracts in September," Porter told the Independent.
With Pietersen and many other international players drawn by the riches of the Indian Premier League, Porter believes the status of Test cricket within the game continues to be eroded.
"The primacy of Test cricket is well-intended but the practicalities are that the trend does not support that," he said.
related stories on msn
The real obstacles are Pieterson himself, he has never forgotten that the captaincy was taken away from him and blames everyone but the real culprit - KP. If he does not want to play test cricket the solution is simple, no contract, no test cricket and a lot less headaches for the team and the board.
While he can produce some superb cricket, his performances have not, to put it mildly, been consistent and in many cases his arrogance has been his frequent down fall on the pitch!
If he's not going to make himself available for England don't give him a central contract it's that simple.Further to to this I do not understand how any centraly contracted player can play in the IPL. I thought the idea of central contracts was to prevent the playing of too much Cricket. The ECB can "pull" players for domestic games so why not IPL? You can't get paid by one employer then go and work for another then come back when you please ,can you?........................or have I got it all wrong!!
