The autobiography of Kevin Pietersen has taken everyone by surprise by claiming that the England cricket team’s dressing room was subject to bullying and bowlers demanded apologies for fielding lapses during matches.
Former English spinner Graeme Swann, however, has denied Pietersen’s claims in the book, calling it a work of fiction. Swann, who spearheaded England’s spin department, insisted that no one was bullied in the England team and bowlers never had a go at fielders.
“There was absolutely no bullying,” Swann said. “If you can find footage of any bowler having a go at a fielder for dropping a catch, I’ll eat my hat.”
“A bowler or wicketkeeper delivers a bit of a kick up the backside, just like a goalkeeper shouts at his centre-half,” he added. “This is international sport, not the under-11s. If Kevin or other players can’t take (that) they are in the wrong business.”
Meanwhile, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that during his playing days he has witnessed English bowlers were having a go whenever there is a missed fielding or a dropped catch.
“We saw them doing it, (James) Anderson was always the same, and Swann,” Ponting told The Daily Telegraph. “The pointing of fingers and you’d hear a few expletives if there was a misfield or a dropped catch.”
“The guys who were doing it were the so-called leaders. That’s where the captain has got to come in, not wait and let little things turn into big things. That’s what it sounds like has happened in this England team.”
