Pietersen: England were distracted

Eurosport - Sun, 02 Nov 14:59:00 2008

Kevin Pietersen said England failed to look beyond "the nonsense" after being humbled at the hands of the Stanford Superstars.

Stanford Superstars - 0

A dismal batting display saw England bowled out for 99, while a Caribbean side inspired by the heavy-hitting Chris Gayle made light work of the target to get their hands on the $20million winner-takes-all prize pot.

An ECB review of the competition, for which England have signed a five-year contract, is imminent and Pietersen is eager for any repeat visits to the Caribbean to be more professionally handled.

Much has been made of the cash on offer, as well as the conduct of Sir Allen Stanford himself following his on-camera flirtation with some of the players' wives.

"During the week we haven't been concentrating on the cricket, there's been a lot of nonsense during the week and we haven't concentrated on the cricket," Pietersen told Sky Sports.

"We should be focusing on the cricket. A lot of nonsense happened this week and I've just said to the lads that the key to what we do is concentrating solely on our cricket.

"Everything that has gone on this week, in terms of what has been done in the cricket and everything around it... it's been a week of other things.

"What we have to focus on now is batting, bowling and fielding. We're going to have to buy into the competition a lot more.

"We need to make sure we are 100% focused on winning games of cricket for England and leave the other things to other people."

Stanford Superstars assistant coach Roger Harper was full of praise for a side that contained a mixture of experienced West Indies stars and unheralded prospects from domestic cricket.

"It's difficult to say what it means but it's a fantastic achievement," he told Sky Sports.

"As a group it means a lot to us. It showed if you come together and work hard for a common focus, you can achieve anything.

"When we came together there were a few questions but as time passed and we put in the hard work, we all believed it was possible."

Harper also stressed Stanford's cash must not be an end in itself and should be used as the launchpad for a rejuvenation of the game in the West Indies.

"What I would seriously hope is that we learn from this as a team and as an organisation and that we build on this," he said.

"It's got to be the start of something. The players have a big cheque to collect but we need to use this to move West Indies cricket to another level."

Stanford hailed the success of the Superstars and expects it to be followed by a resurgence for the West Indies team on the international stage.

The Texan told Sky Sports: "Three years ago we started an experiment to get young kids who were going elsewhere back into cricket and to reward the best players in the Caribbean for their professional skills.

"We're doing it, the results are here tonight. We will beat anybody in the world with this team. We are back, we're going to take the world again. This programme is working."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 50 - 69 of 69

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  1. EDGEMRU - THIS IS JUST FOR YOU

    IN LESS THAN A­ WEEK'S TIME, I WILL BE LAYING POPPIES IN MEMORY OF­ MY HEROIC FAMILY MEMBERS WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES FOR­ MINE - AND MANY OTHERS' - FREEDOM.

    ESPECIALLY ON­ BEHALF OF MY GREAT UNCLE HARRY, ALL HIS COMRADES, AND­ MYSELF, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME AT ANY CENOTAPH IN THEIR­ MEMORY ON NOVEMBER 11TH, OR AT ANY OTHER TIME.

    NEITHER­ ARE YOU EVER WELCOME AT THE OLDEST CRICKET GROUNDS IN­ THE WORLD.

    WE ARE NOT COVERED WITH ANYONE'S BLOOD,­ EXCEPT OUR OWN.

    BUT YOU - AND ALL THOSE RACISTS LIKE­ YOU - ARE UTTERLY COVERED IN SHAME FOREVER.

    From angeli01us, on Tue 4 Nov 1:45PM

  2. gfgfjhgf

    From Ray S, on Mon 3 Nov 3:46PM

  3. As a lover of the game of cricket in all its forms, and­ as an honest englishman, I have to agree 100% with­ every word you say Rusty, that really is the bottom­ line of it.
    Once again, well played Windies in a game­ that as Cowers so appropriately said, was sadly marred­ by the fact that England were useless...

    From nocohere, on Mon 3 Nov 9:24AM

  4. KP I respect you as a cricketer but you need to shut up­ and stop making excuses for an inferior performances.­ On the day, you were totally outplayed and outclass,­ this is just a case of sore grapes. When you and your­ team headed for Antigua, you all had in your heads that­ the Superstars were an easy walkover, you were proven­ wrong. The West Indies did a number on you, and you­ should accept it. I love cricket, I play and watch the­ game, never have I saw in my life a case of denial,­ than I saw last night. As a West Indian myself, I am­ really happy for the boys, they did us proud. I would­ say to KP and gang, lick your wounds and come better­ the next time, because some of the things you said had­ absolutely nothing to do with the way you played. You­ all were well and truly beaten by the better team, you­ all were THUMPED good and proper. Rally.....,rally­ roun' the West Indies.

    From Rusty, on Sun 2 Nov 11:54PM

  5. England captain is now trying to find excuses there was­ distraction why did you take your WAGS with you when­ you knew that much money was at stake moreover your­ WAGS should know how to behave Stanford didnt hold and­ made her sit in the lap and why did she not had the­ courage to slap his face if he was not behaving your­ WAGS gave him the liberty and he took it.Stop winging­ had you won you wont be saying that.

    From Naqi, on Sun 2 Nov 8:44PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    YES ENGLAND R WELL AND TRULEY THE SHITTEST CRICKET TEAM­ ON THE PLANET

    From khanhassan57, on Sun 2 Nov 4:30PM

  7. its just not cricket old boy

    From alan_hannon, on Sun 2 Nov 2:17PM

  8. david.666

    For the last time, this is a cricket forum. ­ I am positive that no-one wants to read any more of­ this and I have much better things to do than converse­ with you. Don't ever think that you can ever­ communicate with me in any way whatsoever.

    You - and­ Edgemru - have been reported, and I will pursue it­ until the results are satisfactory.

    Now for God's­ sake literally, get off this forum so that no-one has­ to read any more of your communal rubbish.

    From angeli01us, on Sun 2 Nov 1:26PM

  9. Congratulations West Indies!! You worked damned hard­ for 6 weeks and reaped the rewards. Our­ "boys" on the other hand did no such­ preparation and simply took the WAGS for a jolly in the­ sun and assumed they would walk away with the cash,­ after all, that's why the ECB selected them, as a­ reward, right? I've only just stopped laughing at­ the sight of our "batters" fannying around in­ the crease and for the most part completely cutting off­ the off side option. Has nobody told them batting is­ difficult enough when stood still which would probably­ account for why not a single batter came close to a­ strike rate of a hundred. LOL!! If I were an opposition­ captain it would be team orders to keep Bell at the­ wicket for whilst he is there they will always under­ achieve. And it's groundhog day with Prior, tried­ tested and failed again. And Kevin, sad to say you have­ gone right down in my estimation with those pathetic­ excuses, you were hammered by a well prepared team who­ carried out a plan, be a man and admit it, and even if­ you were better prepared you would still have lost­ because that was not a 20/20 team. Performance in that­ arena should be the criteria for selection, not reward.

    From nocohere, on Sun 2 Nov 1:19PM

  10. It was just wonderful watching the match.. the spirt­ was felt, the colours, the atmosphere just amazing! ­ Well done .... we are making our way back to the top­ where we always belonged! rally, rally 'roun the­ west indies........

    From leah, on Sun 2 Nov 1:07PM

  11. Billythe kid is absolutely right! Who really cares­ other than the players and families of those involved.­ This circus has no substance to it and I hope that­ it's not indicative of the way that cricket is­ going. This episode is totally regrettable and should­ be banished to the realms of obscurity. I don't­ blame the players involved but there is nothing about­ this farce that the proud tradition of cricket equates­ to Let's hope that this is not repeated and that ­ this "game" is allowed to be forgotten about.­ It's been a shameful experience and shouldn't­ be repeated!. .

    From Roger B, on Sun 2 Nov 12:49PM

  12. dolly birds the lot of em. just in it for the dosh and­ fashion same as the footie.
    can't expect anything­ else all over paid, can't say they need to do a­ proper job cos there not qualified and there is'nt­ enough money in it for em.

    From parent, on Sun 2 Nov 12:44PM

  13. Why am i not allowed to criticies Stanford on this­ mickey-mouse forum?
    Are the regulators of this forum­ also in his pocket!

    From cameron w, on Sun 2 Nov 12:38PM

  14. angeli01us, check the t&c`s and you will find i`ve­ broken no rules you muppet

    From SHARP AS A NEEDLE, on Sun 2 Nov 12:35PM

  15. Well, England got found out. They've got all the­ gear and spend much of the time trying to look good.­ The impression is that they now spend more time­ thinking of themselves and their image rather than the­ game.
    The other issue is that sites like this do­ nothing at all about the racists and those whose­ vocabulary is so limited that the longest word they use­ has 4 letters.
    Both organisations have two things in­ common - a well rehearsed series of excuses and little­ action.

    From gavenny42, on Sun 2 Nov 12:29PM

  16. that shows how rubbish they­ are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From boatengm, on Sun 2 Nov 12:08PM

  17. England picked the wrong side. After Anderson and­ Sidebottome had worked so hard over the past couple of­ years, they were both rejected. Sidebottom apparently­ had an injury, but it is a mystery why Anderson did not­ play. Likewise, Cook may not be a big hitter, but he­ certainly would not have given his wicket away. Both­ Cook and Anderson should have played. This would have­ strengthened both the batting and bowling. Wright and­ one of Swann, Broad or Harmison should have been left­ out to make way for them.

    From lochcroispol, on Sun 2 Nov 12:04PM

  18. Let this one-sided affair serve as a timely alarm bell­ to those who select future teams to represent England.­ One thing is obvious, we need batting players with a­ good eye and a strong arm, especially the openers­ Fletcher is an excellent example of this. Call it­ slogging, call it what you will but it is effective.­ Bell clearly is unfit for this role and if Prior is­ deemed the best wicket keeper, he should surely bat­ lower down the order. I wonder too about Luke­ Wright's credentials for inclusion With regard to­ the bowling, I think two points should be made about­ this particular game. 1) the bowlers were still clearly­ under the weather after suffering from a nasty virus in­ the run-up to the game 2) They were also on a beating­ to nothing attacking such a low score.

    20 - 20 is a­ specialised form of the game and it needs specialist­ players to be successful

    From a very disappointed­ Paul!

    From paulwyton, on Sun 2 Nov 12:03PM

  19. As a West Indian (Jamaican) I am absolutely elated by­ this profound and convincing victory. The faltering­ performances of our boys had seriously demoralised our­ people. This is the sort of thing that imbues our­ spirits and causes us again, with heartfelt pride,­ to"...rally, rally 'roun the west­ indies." Hush England but we needed this more.

    From Meridian, on Sun 2 Nov 11:48AM

  20. I think that u shouldnt give people money just for­ hiting a few balls or bowling a few overs

    From Luke, on Sun 2 Nov 11:47AM
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