MAL'S PET EXHAUSTED
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:42 pmENGLAND hero Kevin Pietersen last night added his considerable weight to calls that cricket's cramped schedule is ruining the game.
In a damning comment about a Future Tours Program which has spiralled out of control, the batting superstar said he looked as if he was asleep in a recent one-day international against the West Indies.
England has arguably the most congested schedule of all nations, having just finished a Test and one-day series against the West Indies, with another campaign against India starting next week.
"The winter was so hard - the Champions Trophy, getting yourself pumped up for every day of the Ashes, then the World Cup rattling into the Test series against the West Indies just 10 days later," Pietersen said.
"I got a hundred and a double hundred and all that and it's just finished me off.
"When I was bowled out at Edgbaston I walked into the dressing room and Colly (Paul Collingwood) said: 'Bad luck, you never miss those'."
"I said: 'No!' It's not a flaw in my technique. It's not as if I'm getting out lbw missing straight balls."
Pietersen, ranked the No. 4 batsman in the world in Test cricket and No. 2 in one-day internationals, made scores of 33, 9 and 0 in a 2-1 one-day series loss against the West Indies.
"I've looked at videos to compare my facial expressions at the crease," Pietersen said.
"When I was making a hundred against Australia in the World Cup and Shaun Tait was coming in at 95 mph I looked really alert, wide-eyed and focused.
"Last week when I was batting I looked like I was falling asleep. It's why I've asked for this break.
"We can't carry on like this."
In a damning comment about a Future Tours Program which has spiralled out of control, the batting superstar said he looked as if he was asleep in a recent one-day international against the West Indies.
England has arguably the most congested schedule of all nations, having just finished a Test and one-day series against the West Indies, with another campaign against India starting next week.
"The winter was so hard - the Champions Trophy, getting yourself pumped up for every day of the Ashes, then the World Cup rattling into the Test series against the West Indies just 10 days later," Pietersen said.
"I got a hundred and a double hundred and all that and it's just finished me off.
"When I was bowled out at Edgbaston I walked into the dressing room and Colly (Paul Collingwood) said: 'Bad luck, you never miss those'."
"I said: 'No!' It's not a flaw in my technique. It's not as if I'm getting out lbw missing straight balls."
Pietersen, ranked the No. 4 batsman in the world in Test cricket and No. 2 in one-day internationals, made scores of 33, 9 and 0 in a 2-1 one-day series loss against the West Indies.
"I've looked at videos to compare my facial expressions at the crease," Pietersen said.
"When I was making a hundred against Australia in the World Cup and Shaun Tait was coming in at 95 mph I looked really alert, wide-eyed and focused.
"Last week when I was batting I looked like I was falling asleep. It's why I've asked for this break.
"We can't carry on like this."
