The relationship between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores was never an easy one, but the events of this week have still come as a massive shock. I don’t think anyone expected this to blow up in the way it has.
The question I want answered is: How has this been allowed to happen? This is a disaster for England cricket, the ECB and everyone senior within that organisation.
I find it hard to believe that the carnage will end here. Nominations are open for ECB chairman and Giles Clarke’s tenure comes to an end on 31 March. It is hard to see how he can hold on to his position.
He could have got away with his whoring of English cricket which resulted in the Stanford debacle, despite having already upset many in the county game with his handling of rights negotiations before he was even chairman. It was conceivable as recently as last week that he may have run unopposed.
Even though the counties make the decision – and the influence of the dollars he has thrown their way in the last two years should not be underestimated – the success of the England team is paramount. The counties are not stupid and recognise the England team as the main revenue driver of the ECB.
Any viable candidate will now beat Clarke. Given recent events he should say now that he will not stand, for the sake of his own dignity as much as anything.
Also, Hugh Morris should resign or be sacked. He was meant to be the mediator in this situation. He brought Pietersen and Moores together and it was him who needed to make sure it worked. He has evidently failed spectacularly in that.
Now we have a situation where England do not have a coach or captain, less than two weeks before they go on a four-test tour and only six months away from a home Ashes series. That is more than bad luck, or a simple personality clash. That is a dereliction of duty from the Director of England Cricket.
What a sorry joke that title sounds now: Director of England Cricket. England Cricket is patently without direction, all conceivable plans for the elite level lying in tatters. Morris must have thought he could handle the clash of personalities – obvious from the outset – between his two key staff members. He was badly mistaken, and was not up to the task. He should go.
Geoff Miller is far from blameless too, but with him there is an important difference. He has made selection decisions on a cricket basis. Whether you agree or disagree with those selections, they were made with winning cricket matches and building a successful England team. If he has had a divisive influence, it is more of a problem with the system than a problem with him.
If anything there should have been a clear winner of this bust-up, someone to carry England forward, for the coming year at least. Pietersen couldn’t work with Moores. That means either Moores goes or Pietersen can’t be captain any more. The fact that they have both gone smacks of gross mismanagement by the ECB.
Graham Gooch made a pertinent comparison between Pietersen and Shane Warne. Shane Warne never liked being coached, and was famously critical of John Buchanan. While that would have been disastrous if Warne had been captain, as a player it was less important. It didn’t stop Australia being the best team in the world under Buchanan for a number of years.
What the Australian board presumably recognised is that you don’t need or necessarily want concord at all times in the dressing room. If you have a collection of individuals who want to win and be the best – as Pietersen does, desperately – then you are bound to have friction at times. If managed correctly, this can contribute to further improvements and greater success as a team.
So often we look at Australia to try to find ways we can improve, and things we can copy to find the success that they have enjoyed. Well the ECB have missed the trick yet again. The art of management is so often held in what goes on in the background, behind closed doors, allowing things to go smoothly when the players step out on to the pitch.
In allowing the team to suffer so badly, Clarke and Morris have lost sight of their one key goal: a successful England Cricket team. It shows they are not the right men to lead England Cricket forward.