Kevin Pietersen and the meeting

Pietersen starts with a disclaimer. He says he is not someone who can be trampled upon. In February 2014, Pietersen went to the ECB to meet the then 3 powerful people in the English game, captain Alastair Cook, Managing Director Paul Downton and James Whitaker, the Chairman of Selectors. England had just concluded a disastrous tour of Australia losing 0-5. Pietersen knew that he was in trouble and he believed that those men wanted him out of the team. Before meeting them, KP searched for who Downton was. He found that he played international cricket but wasn’t world class. KP seems to respect only those cricketers who are world class. KP rang up Downton and asked to meet to discuss the tour. Downton agreed and also told him that James Whitaker would also be present in the meeting. First chapter, Kevin Pietersen and the meeting.

KP’s first brush with Whitaker wasn’t good. He recollects that he, KP scored a 100 after coming back from an injury while his parents and Trott’s parents were chatting in the stadium. An old man, to whom Whitaker had purchased a ticket came upto him and started to abuse him. This did not please KP and a few days later, he asked Whitaker to apologise to his parents or the old man to apologise but Whitaker refused.

The Downton showdown

When he met Downton, he gave an honest account of how the tour went. Mainly his relationship with the coach Andy Flower. He also admitted that he could have scored some more runs but defended that he was still the highest scorer for England. Downton was forthright when he said that KP did not bat well enough. This left KP aghast. He thought of how Downton had a modest average of 20 and wasn’t able to digest that someone like him criticised KP. He felt that Downton did not have the credential or the right to do so. KP confronted Downton asking him whether he was his batting coach. Naturally, Downton wasn’t pleased. He also reminded Downton that he has scored more than 13000 runs for England and pondered whether Downton saw his innings at Melbourne.

Downton was defiant and said that he got out several times playing reckless cricket. KP says he chose to remain calm and also felt that after playing more than 100 Tests, he was being interviewed for a job. Downton’s next question was where KP see himself in 5 years. For that, KP told him he would like to score 10000 runs but Downton wasn’t amused. Downton expected KP to answer that he will try to win as many games as possible for England. This was their first meeting about the tour.

The decision

The next one was at Danubius Hotel. In this meeting, KP wanted to reveal a lot more. Mainly about Mathew Prior who had a negative influence on the team. He says he had a good relationship with the rest of the team. Now, at the Grace Suite, KP walks in with Cook present as well. He shook hands with all of them when Downton told him that he would not be part of the plans for the World T20. KP asked him whether he was sacked but Downton was effusive. He said that KP wasn’t part of the plan for now and the future is yet to be decided. KP was shocked and left the room immediately with his agent. They went to the lawyer Bob Mitchell to discuss severance terms. From then on, Downton also repeated how disinterested KP looked in Australia.

He said that he has never seen anyone who is facing Australian bowlers look so disinterested. KP is however adamant that why didn’t Downton talk to Flower to understand why England’s highest scorer looked so disinterested on the field? Was the team environment conducive? Was there any underlying tension among the players? Shouldn’t Downton, being the Managing Director of the ECB, have taken some steps to rectify the situation? Well, none of these happened. Instead, Downton told the press that the time is ripe for rebuilding the side and it cannot be done with KP in the team. He had to go.

Wrapping up Kevin Pietersen and the meeting

KP for his part, believed that this wasn’t the end of his England dream. He will and wanted to come back and play again. England has given him everything. He is recognised by everyone only because he was an England cricketer. His heart yearned for more. He yearned for more. Alas, it remained a pipe dream. Now, KP comes to the point that he will reveal everything that happened during his career and ask the viewers to judge. He has described the events from his perspective. There are events where he may well have been correct but equally, there are also events where he was in the wrong.

Autobiography