Boycott accuses KP of being 'in his own world'

Cricket365
December 21, 2013

Former opener Geoffrey Boycott has suggested England drop batsman Kevin Pietersen for the fourth Ashes Test, which will start at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.

The tourists have slipped to a three-nil series defeat against Australia – and at the root of the woe has been the batsmen's inability to successfully combat an inspired opposition attack.

Seamers Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have enjoyed a particularly solid stretch of form, while Pietersen has fallen prey to Siddle and spinner Nathan Lyon on a regular basis.

The 33-year-old right-hander, in fact, has managed just one half-century in six innings – and has copped plenty of criticism for in the wake of a slew of shoddy shot selection and irresponsible strokeplay.

"How do you tell inexperienced players such as Michael Carberry and Joe Root that you have to sell your wicket dearly and work through difficult periods in a match, but then Pietersen plays like he does? He has given his wicket away four times out of six," Boycott told the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>.

"Each time they set a trap for him and he falls for it. He is a mug and the Aussies are laughing at him. They think he is a sucker. Senior players should always give a lead to the juniors, but with Pietersen it is all about self. He is going to do whatever he wants, play the way he feels irrespective of the state of the match or what is best for England.

"I do not agree that you have to let him play the way he wants. When the best player in the team makes stupid mistakes just think what that does to the morale of the rest of the players. KP is in his own world."

Boycott implored coach Andy Flower to manage the player appropriately, as the English aim to prevent a series whitewash in Melbourne and at the Sydney Cricket Ground early next year.

"It is also a failure of management as much as KP's fault. Andy Flower has allowed him to play any way he wants because he can win matches. Every mother knows that no matter how much she loves her child she has to set boundaries," he added.

The child has to know if you cross the boundary some privileges will be taken away until you grasp right and wrong. Andy should have told him long ago it is not on. But obviously he has let him do what he wants, so he keeps making the same silly mistakes."