Prior: Dressing room a better place without Pietersen

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-QbudBhJWhSb1nNML6i7mOT0C1UdTryulODYzXCufRCBVDwOZ1B7FYOZwg7JxV2WoJl2BvWdEqkY-ZdqjrFwegZyaKGbds8CTLACmD0I7R2k9SwXbrhs2fWpKWeQfe6R3CTc8qnHZ8AC/s1600/Prior+Dressing+room+a+better+place+without+Pietersen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-QbudBhJWhSb1nNML6i7mOT0C1UdTryulODYzXCufRCBVDwOZ1B7FYOZwg7JxV2WoJl2BvWdEqkY-ZdqjrFwegZyaKGbds8CTLACmD0I7R2k9SwXbrhs2fWpKWeQfe6R3CTc8qnHZ8AC/s1600/Prior+Dressing+room+a+better+place+without+Pietersen.JPG" /></a></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: dimgrey; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify;">By David French DUBAI (Reuters) - England's dressing room will be a better place without Kevin Pietersen after the controversial batsman was sacked following the dismal Ashes tour of Australia, wicketkeeper Matt Prior said on Thursday. Prior, the tour vice-captain, said Pietersen's ability should have made him "the best England cricketer to ever walk this planet" and the decision to dispense with him would not have been taken lightly. "I think one of the biggest things they (the ECB) want to rediscover is the value of playing cricket for England, the honour and the pride you need to show as an England cricketer. Pietersen was released from his ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) contract earlier this month in the aftermath of the 5-0 test whitewash by Australia.</span></div>

England Kevin Pietersen Prior: Dressing room a better place without Pietersen

By David French DUBAI (Reuters) - England's dressing room will be a better place without Kevin Pietersen after the controversial bats...

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England prepare for life without Kevin Pietersen

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">England will play their first major match since the controversial decision to call time on Kevin Pietersen's international career when they face West Indies in the first of three one-day internationals in Antigua on Friday.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">English cricket is still coming to terms with the decision to dispense with the services of the national side's all-time leading run scorer across all formats.</span><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbvSqxDzN0NhmFjSomwwsNGJuhxJwhBjWkuW_GmHE3VnUZR2mZzh5tIj1uuYZEmk66iJdW_kPrZD5Ef2k4hKQzALjc_6zKtnRMHxki8Gxvb7QFV8-DQzTq-6_FOYTHEgxUEFbL57ps2n3/s1600/England+prepare+for+life+without+Kevin+Pietersen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbvSqxDzN0NhmFjSomwwsNGJuhxJwhBjWkuW_GmHE3VnUZR2mZzh5tIj1uuYZEmk66iJdW_kPrZD5Ef2k4hKQzALjc_6zKtnRMHxki8Gxvb7QFV8-DQzTq-6_FOYTHEgxUEFbL57ps2n3/s1600/England+prepare+for+life+without+Kevin+Pietersen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">There is a sense that former England wicket-keeper Paul Downton, now the England and Wales Cricket Board's managing director and Test captain Alastair Cook, rested from the Caribbean series, know they will be judged on the team's results and so would not be as perverse to 'cut off their nose to spite their face' by prematurely ditching a world-class player.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It is significant that England have not cited form or fitness as a reason for axing Pietersen but rather a harder to pin down need to "rebuild the team ethic" following a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">England will also play three Twenty20 internationals against the West Indies, the reigning global champions in cricket's shortest international format, in Barbados on this trip ahead of next month's World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It was in the Caribbean four years ago that England won their lone global limited overs title when, with Pietersen man of the tournament, they took the World Twenty20 title.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Their captain back then was Paul Collingwood, still the skipper of county champions Durham and also a temporary member of England's coaching staff this trip.</span></div>

England Kevin Pietersen Twenty20 internationals England prepare for life without Kevin Pietersen

England will play their first major match since the controversial decision to call time on Kevin Pietersen's international career when ...

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