 | « Back to article | Print this article |
His anger at the English cricket administration and the then coach Andy Flower notwithstanding, Kevin Pietersen says he hasn't been too wise himself even though he is far from being the "villain" that he was made out to be before being sacked.
In his no holds barred autobiography, which is due to be out on Thursday, Pietersen recalled his sacking from the team but also hoped for a comeback.
"I didn't always tread wisely. I was often naive and sometimes stupid. I was no villain, though," he writes.
"Cricket is politics. Bad politics. Things change overnight. I believe that the governing body of English cricket could change; I believe it should change. I am happy for now, but I would be happy to come back. Anything can happen in cricket."
The maverick batsman dwelled on his fractious relationship with coach Andy Flower and how his career came to an end abruptly last year.
"Contagiously sour. Infectiously dour. He could walk into a room and suck all the joy out of it in five seconds. Just a Mood Hoover. That's how I came to think of him," he said referring to the former coach.
"A clique choked our team... and Andy Flower let that clique grow like a bad weed. The dressing room slowly became the territory of the biggest mouths among the bowlers - and a wicketkeeper. They ran an exclusive club. If you're outside that clique, you were fair game for mocking, ridicule, bullying," he added.
Pietersen was slightly mild in his opinion of skipper Alastair Cook.
"I know, though, that while Cooky is a nice man, he is also a company man. A safe pair of hands; he won't rock the boat," he said.
Pietersen said the ECB needed a scapegoat who was, "big, boisterous and annoying...somebody who left colourful footprints on the pristine white carpets."