Cook: I was made scapegoat over KP
ALASTAIR COOK has accused the ECB of making him a ‘scapegoat’ after Kevin Pietersen’s acrimonious exit from the England side in 2014. In an interview with
Sportsmail columnist Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports, Cook said he agreed with the decision to cast Pietersen aside following the 5-0 Ashes defeat in 2013-14, but felt he was hung out to dry later. ‘I did feel a bit of a scapegoat,’ he said. ‘I’ll be forever associated with it but to say I was the only person to make the call is wrong.’
ALASTAIR COOK today accuses the ECB of making him a scapegoat for the sacking of Kevin Pietersen that led to a bitter civil war within English cricket.
Cook told Sportsmail columnist Nasser Hussain that even though he agreed with the controversial decision to cast Pietersen aside in the aftermath of the 5-0 Ashes thrashing in 2013-14, he should not have had to carry the can.
‘I don’t think the decision was wrong but the fallout wasn’t great for English cricket and people could have handled it differently,’ says Cook (below) in an interview to be broadcast by Sky Sports during today’s final Test against India at The oval.
‘As an England captain you are involved in decisions but you don’t make them. They are made above your head and I did feel a bit of a scapegoat in that one situation. It was a tough six to eight months.
‘I will be forever associated with it because I was captain but to say I was the only person to make that call is wrong.
‘ The day it changed was when Andrew Strauss took over ( as director of cricket) and said it was his decision (to continue the exile of Pietersen) and that’s probably what should have been said at the time.’
The recriminations led to a number of pundits calling for Cook’s head as England initially struggled the following summer, but he now believes he had his redemption when he led England to Ashes victory in 2015.
‘When we lost 5-0 in Australia and then lost to Sri lanka the following summer, there was a realisation that I wasn’t getting the best out of my captaincy,’ Cook tells Hussain before his 161st and final Test. ‘Being so stubborn and not listening to anyone else wasn’t helpful.
‘ I needed more help and advice and in the last couple of years when I was captain I leaned on a lot more people, asked for a lot more ideas and was far more open.
‘I don’t regret what I did but in the last couple of years as captain I did things a lot more naturally because I relaxed in the role. It’s hard learning as an England captain but in this day and age there’s no other way to do it.
‘We had been through a lot as a side and no one had given us a chance to win those Ashes in 2015. So to play as we did in three of the first four games just meant a lot. To become a double-winning Ashes captain after what I’d gone through was a special moment and redemption for hanging on in there when it was so tough.’
Cook, who announced his international retirement after England sealed their series victory over India at the Ageas Bowl, also reveals today he was prepared to offer Pietersen an olive branch. ‘I did say, “Why don’t we give KP some time off and maybe he can come back later on”,’ Cook told the BBC’s Jonathan Agnew. ‘ Pa u l Downton (then England managing director) wanted clarity, a clean break, because everybody would always be asking when he would be coming back. ‘You had to back his decision because that’s what his job was. ‘ I would refute anyone saying I was the one who chucked KP down the stairs but I was involved in the decision and I believed it was right at the time.
‘What could have happened a year later, I don’t know, but I can honestly say all the decisions I made were in the best interests of the England team at that time. It was just I felt I was being left alone as the captain.’
Cook has not spoken to Pietersen since but did not rule out burying the hatchet. ‘I guess time is a great healer,’ Cook says
during today’s Test Match Special\ ‘We spent a lot of time together and created some amazing memories. The thing is, we never actually fell out. Since then the internet has fallen out for us. He will have a different opinion, I’m sure.’
48.08 ALASTAIR COOK’S Test batting average in the 95 matches he played with Kevin Pietersen — without KP it drops to 40.35