Kevin Pietersen snubbed by Hampshire

Why don't the centrally contracted like KP (and Lions fringe players on loan from counties) play for an MCC team in the various domestic leagues playing out of Lords, Oval and Edgbaston.

There's also the small matter that Pietersen hasn't scored any meaningful runs for a while. Why give him a place in the Hampshire team when chances are he won't actually contribute any runs? On current form he isn't really good enough to play for Hampshire 1st XI...

This will come back to bite Hampshire on the bum,the ECB won't forget about this in a hurry.

Like Pochard and Patrick Clarke point out...why mess Hampshire around for someone who's not even in form. He's 22nd (tests) and 35th (ouch..ODI's) in the batting ranks respectively. He's not this immortal batting god that people thought he was so what do Hampshire have to gain by agreeing to drop one of their own contracted players for someone who is, on current form, likely to fail. Can almost see him going the way of Jayasuriya and gradually getting worse and worse, despite being still picked, and eventually fading into oblivion.

Posted by   on (July 21 2010, 23:08 PM GMT)

Pietersen thinks the Rosebowl is too far from his home in Chelsea but was quite happy to trot off to Bangalore for two months to play in the IPL. He's obviously got no interest in Hampshire so the sooner he clears off the better. Can't understand why any county want to sign him? How many times do Middlesex think he'll play for them? He's just a mercenary. The best thing about England winning the Ashes in 2009 was that it was done without Pietersen. He got his way, refusing to sign his central contract until he was allowed to play in the IPL and then got injured while training for IPL matches - lol! England will be better off without him too. I can see why the South African supporters booed him all the way to the wicket when he made his first England appearances in South Africa. Cricket is a team game and no player is bigger than the game. Good riddance KP.

Why is Pietersen still playing for England anyway? He has been way under par for about two years. Other players (Strauss, Bell, Anderson) have been dropped for shorter losses of form. So should he be, you can't just keep on hoping and he needs to earn his way back in just as the others I mentioned above had to. He should be told he is out of the Pakistan series and must perform well for a county to get his place back for the Ashes. Which county he plays for, well that is up to him to sort out... I should also mention I'm not anti-Pietersen, I just think he should get the same treatment as anyone. An in-form KP is wanted. An out-of-form KP isn't.

So Chelsea is too far from Hampshire for Pietersen's liking. So wiil Durham be too far away when his new county play up there... Strange how India isn't too far to go for the rich pickings of the IPL and I'll bet Australia won't be too far either. I suspect there must be more to this situation than meets the eye.

Stephen Kisson....what you smoking? Good decision by Hampshire - not because it's scandalous but because it makes sound sense for their own interests. Hampshire's struggled enough this season and are just starting to turn their season around with a string of players finding good form. Why interrupt the interests of a team and club for the interests of one player and one coach? The fact that such england players hardly play for their counties is the embarrassment to english cricket..

Posted by   on (July 21 2010, 09:10 AM GMT)

Good on Hampshire putting 2 fingers up to the ECB. About time more counties did, time to show Giles Clarke and his puppets what the counties think of them. Reform the cental contracts to allow a window in the county season where players can represent their counties for a month or so. KP's lame excuse of living 90 miles away was lame to say the least, considering in the last 2 years he has represented Hampshire 0.50 times per season!!! Hardly a daily commute, which hasn't exactly helped his cause.

Well done Hampshire! There is absolutely no reason they should potentially risk a shot at a trophy (I know Hampshire aren't doing too well at the moment but there's still a lot of cricket to play) just to allow an out of form player a swing. Especially considering he's basically snubbed the county himself. Maybe a wakeup to the ECB to allow there top players to play more County Cricket in the future?