You should always pick your best players

ENGLAND should pick the best team available this summer, and from a fan’s point of view, I would love to see Kevin Pietersen in the middle against New Zealand and Australia. But I can accept that coaches can have problems with players, and if the head coach fronts up and explains why he is not picking a certain player — for whatever reason — fine. What I can’t accept is when the decision comes from the executives. With his first decision, Andrew Strauss has tied stand-in coach Paul Farbrace’s hands behind his back. It is such an archaic way of doing things as Farbrace can’t have the team he wants in theory. The head coach of any team should have the ability to pick whoever he wants. Instead, we have the director of cricket and selection committee making the decisions. Pietersen is not the problem here, the problem is the timewarp English cricket is stuck in. The Aussies and the Kiwis will be loving every minute of it! The second you start taking coaching matters out of a coach’s hands, you give him an excuse. And as a coach you should have zero excuses. You should have complete control. I can tell you, categorically, there is no way I would take over a coaching role in which I didn’t have absolute authority. Can you imagine the Chelsea hierarchy telling Jose Mourinho who he can and can’t pick? Not likely. This should not even be an issue. It’s a very straightforward matter that has been dealt with in an amateurish way, and if things carry on like this the players will not know who they are playing for. If Andrew Strauss was the head coach — with his reputation on the line — I wonder if he would be so quick to dismiss England’s best batsman.

VERDICT: KP in.