‘Fans shouldn’t boo KP’
1 Dec 2009
England coach Andy Flower has called on South Africans to stop booing Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen received a hostile welcome in his first England tour to South Africa five years ago, and little has changed in the start to this series. Zimbabwean Flower believes it doesn’t influence his play, but called on the fans to stop.
‘I think he is used to the sort of reaction he’s getting from the crowd to be honest and I don’t think it affects him,’ said Flower. ‘But to me it is really disappointing to hear the boos he’s getting.
‘I didn’t like hearing the boos when [Ricky] Ponting walked out to bat in the summer, I don’t like hearing boos when someone is taking a conversion in rugby and I don’t like hearing this crowd booing a great cricketer when he is going out to compete for his country.’
Pietersen has received much jeering, but South African-born Jonathan Trott hasn’t.
‘There is a bit of the pantomime villain about KP out here and he’s higher profile than Jonathan Trott so that plays a part, but I just think it is sad.’
72 Comments
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1 Dec 2009, 14:39 pm
@Dantalian:
maybe , who knows…
1 Dec 2009, 14:46 pm
@Blouste: 39
I absolutely agree regarding (mis)identification of talent. It already starts at schoolboy level where clearly talented players are left out of teams in favour of the rich okes kid or my drinking buddy’s kid.
We had a situation a few years back where a Nuffield player who moved from Cape Town to Springbok was not selected for the Griqua team because the selectors stuck to the players they knew (read white players) although he was the best bowler at the trials. When they heard afterwards that the former Capie played in the Nuffield week for WP the previous year, they then wanted to include him.
@WP_:
I’ll take your word for it. He did however open for Natal
1 Dec 2009, 14:53 pm
@Blouste: 39
I absolutely agree regarding (mis)identification of talent. It already starts at schoolboy level where clearly talented players are left out of teams in favour of the rich okes kid or my drinking buddy’s kid.
We had a situation a few years back where a Nuffield player who moved from Cape Town to Springbok was not selected for the Griqua team because the selectors stuck to the players they knew (read white players) although he was the best bowler at the trials. When they heard afterwards that the former Capie played in the Nuffield week for WP the previous year, they then wanted to include him.
His father told them what they could do with their late selection.
@WP_:
I’ll take your word for it. He did however open for Natal
1 Dec 2009, 14:56 pm
What’s this double posting? Sorry.
1 Dec 2009, 15:06 pm
I don’t agree or disagree with the aforementioned posts since you all have valid points. One has to understand though that players at 20/21 are not fully developed and all they have is raw talent, well , unless your surname is Tendulkar!!!!
The Natal selectors made what they thought was the right choice at the time. Hindsight is a *****, yes, but that’s life. How could Marseille let Henry slip through their fingers? Barcelona must be shitting themselves now that Fabregas has made a name for himself. At the end of the day one has to decide who has the better chance of progressing and this one time the selectors got it wrong.
KP obviously knew that he had the ability but felt that he was not getting a crack at the first team. Wrongly or wrightly he felt that quotas kept him out of the team and went to England, like many cricketers have before him. Hell, even I went to play in England after making the Province under 19 team nearly 20 years ago. Luckily for him, he made his mark and the rest is history. However, what pissed off most Saffas was the way he shredded SA when he made the England team and blamed his non-selection on the quota system. This is what pissed off the SA cricket team as well because guys like Smith, AB and the Morkels, Klusner, Kemp, etc had come through the same structures as him. His fake English accent also seriously pissed people off, ditto his arrogance at the time. He has really matured as a person though and he is fantastic to watch. He admitted himself that he was a bit of a ****, which really speaks volumes for him. Also, the SA team has also opened up to him which is great to see. The booing I think is all done in jest by most supporters. Watch closely and you will see the smiles on the peoples faces (and KP’s) when he does some boundary fielding.
Yes, he would have been a great asset to SA. But then again, maybe Amla, JP or AB would not have been where they are today if he had been around.
Cheers guys….I really like chatting on the cricket thread, much more positive comments than the rugby threads.
1 Dec 2009, 15:42 pm
Bodi only concerntrated on his batting when he leg spin bowling went south… Which was a few years after…
Agree Golden Boy. The cricket chat is enjoyable and the okes are more knowledgeable…
1 Dec 2009, 16:20 pm
i dont believe KP would have made the protea side…neither would AS…never mind captaining the side.
there are many a great cricketer in this country that does not rise to the top.when was the last player from a really obscure little villiage in the middel of nowhere to play top cricket for sa…apart from the mdingi express?
going to right school,does help an awefull lot.u get spotted so much quicker when u play for a top school.
anyways,i do believe that in cricket a team can not carry a bad player.although its a team sport,u bat alone,bowl alone,and u field alone.
if there is a player that is unfairly selected,he will be found wanting sooner than later,irrispective of his background
1 Dec 2009, 16:25 pm
as for the boo-ing of KP,i know that he’s not the same punk that got selected for the poms a long time ago,but he made such a fuss about what he did not want to be(being saffa at heart),that in mho,he must just deal with all the banter.
although peter siddle is not ex saffa,he will always get a hostile crowd touring this country.
1 Dec 2009, 17:10 pm
People don’t boo him because he left SA, they boo him because he’s an idiot. Going back to his original claim that he left because of afirmative action, even though he was averaging around 10 with that bat….
On another note – how long before there isn’t a single home-grown Pom in the team? They are already nearly half the team:
Strauss (South Africa)
Trott (South Africa)
Pietersen (South Africa)
Prior (South Africa)
Morgan (Ireland)
1 Dec 2009, 17:22 pm
@chappy: Hopefully our South Africans will be better than their South Africans.
1 Dec 2009, 17:23 pm
Panesar was born in India if I’m not mistaken, and Sajid Mahmood Pakistan…
1 Dec 2009, 17:26 pm
Dantalian
Well, already our Petersen is better than their Pieterson!
1 Dec 2009, 17:29 pm
@WP_:
1 Dec 2009, 17:51 pm
nobody boos trott because trottyis a decent guy who has kept his trap shut…had kp done the same it would have been easier on him..
that said kp has calmed down a great deal…hell we might even like him soon…
1 Dec 2009, 17:59 pm
KP IS A ****! Boo the b@stard till he remembers his South african eksent.
1 Dec 2009, 20:46 pm
@Slappes:
:smilie:
2 Dec 2009, 00:06 am
Ya, one thing . despise is KP’s fake pommie accent. I mean please. He started putting it on as soon as he got there. It’s quite pathetic.
Mike Catt, who’s been in England for about 16 odd years still has no trace of a pommie twang, yet KP acts like a twat and manufactures one.
Luckily Trott hasnt.
2 Dec 2009, 01:23 am
We are just days away from the biggest show South Africa has yet pulled but not a single word on it on this site. Be patriotic keo and cut and paste a story on the world cup draw.
2 Dec 2009, 01:29 am
Oh and I played against KP in high school he ws ****. Never made an impact. I laughed when he complained about quotas considering he got to play above many deserving guys. It was never about his color he jus was not up to scratch. Sad that he saw fit to say wat he said.
2 Dec 2009, 08:45 am
Did he styled his old hairstyle on you skunk?
2 Dec 2009, 15:19 pm
I think booing should stop in all sport. Just look how great it was in Croke Park? Not one sound when a penalty was taken. The way it should be.
Saying that I don’t like KP much but maybe it is time to stop booing him. He has left here now years ago.
3 Dec 2009, 05:13 am
Who is this dude to tell paying spectators not to boo? We’ll boo whoever we want. We just don’t like the guy thats all, KP learned his cricket in this country and went to play for England. No problem there. The sh*t hit the fan when he decided to diss our cricketing structures, which are admitedly not perfect, but they work for us.
Whenever you hear boos when KP walks out to the middle thats me.
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