CSA chief defends Proteas players against Collier?s allegations ? Cricket News Update
Speaking out in defence of South African players after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive David Collier accused them of having had a hand in Kevin Pietersen?s fallout with the England board, Cricket South Africa?s acting CEO Jacques Faul has expressed his disappointment over Collier?s claims.
?I am very disappointed that this has played out in the media,? Faul said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo. ?It is absolutely not true that our players provoked Pietersen.?
Faul explained that although he had met Collier face-to-face earlier while visiting London for the Lord?s Test between their respective teams, the ECB chief executive had levelled no accusations then. He went on to suggest that Collier?s approach lacked courtesy and decency, given that he had not discussed the matter with Faul before going public with the accusation in the media.
?It is not the way CSA goes about its business and it is not the way the ECB have done business with us in the past either,? Faul added. ?It is very disappointing because in the past our relationships with the ECB have always been cordial and constructive.?
The row between Pietersen and the ECB, sparked by the batsman?s retirement from international limited-overs cricket earlier this year, reached breaking point when it was revealed Pietersen had sent questionable text messages to members of the rival South African team, who were then visiting England and playing a Tests series against the Poms.
The exact nature of the messages remained unclear ? some reports suggested that they contained derogatory language used against England?s then Test captain Andrew Strauss and team manager Andy Flower, while others suggested they offered tactical advice to the South African team on how to get Strauss out.
Proteas players dismissed the text messages as banter, and steered clear of the issue. Meanwhile, Pietersen was initially dropped from the England squad, but after a series of talks between the 32-year-old and the board, the issue appears to be on the mend, and the most recent development has seen the ECB announcing its intent to re-integrate Pietersen in the national team.
Collier recently spoke about the issue for the first time, in conversation with BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme, and claimed that Pietersen had been provoked into sending the text messages by members of the Proteas squad. This had in turn served as a distraction for the England team, who went on to lose the extended-overs series, and subsequently their top Test team ranking. However, Faul pointed out that the Proteas players had been equally disturbed, and had nothing to do with what was purely an ECB matter.
?This is an internal ECB matter in which we do not wish to be involved. It served as a distraction to our players that we did not need during the Test series,? Faul clarified.
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