Graeme Smith say Strauss made English cricket a "laughing stock"

Quote:[size=12pt]Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith was among several pundits who slammed Andrew Strauss's decision to maintain Kevin Pietersen's international exile, saying it had made English cricket a "laughing stock".

Strauss, one of several England captains whose time as skipper came to an end after a series against a Proteas side led by Smith, has recently been installed as England's director of cricket.

On Tuesday, Strauss said Pietersen would remain in the international wilderness, with the South Africa-born batsman exiled from the England squad ever since the team returned from a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia last year.

Strauss, whose final months as England captain in 2012 were clouded by "provocative" texts sent by Pietersen to Proteas players, said a "massive trust issue" lay at the heart of his decision.[/size]

READ MORE HERE: Kevin Pietersen decision makes England a laughing stock, says former Proteas captain Graeme Smith

Mail:
have the english allowed a south african with a beef with another south african to compromise their cricket ::confused::

if Strauss has a problem of trust with Pietersen thats his affair with Pietersen.  how is that an english problem.  that is between the 2 men who are not playing on the field together.

yet Strauss beef take precedence over englands need to have their best batsman on the field.  he kicks Pietersen out!

it is worse that I thought Mail.  you are right then...Pietersen was set up by the  bosses Greaves and Harrison

Quote:When Colin Graves became the ECB's chairman elect and Tom Harrison its new chief executive, one of the first moves was to engineer an opportunity to defuse the Pietersen situation by opening the door to his re-selection. It was a smart decision, easing power away from the unloved Downton and placing responsibility back on Pietersen and the rest of England's players to perform on the pitch and behave in the media. Downton's job was dead in the water from that moment. A restructure brought Andrew Strauss as Director of Cricket and the internecine nature of the argument took another turn. Pietersen was no longer sacked, but could not be selected either. It's what generations of Civil Service Mandarins would recognise as a classic English compromise.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/conten...70395.html

they never intended to re-instate Pietersen.  they were trying to defuse a situation.

hahahaha.  good fuh england

Laughing stock ? English cricket has been a joke for a long time