The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had been in trouble for not providing the English cricketers with an opportunity to play in the Indian Premier League. So much so that the players like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen had decided to not sign on as contracted cricketers representing England; instead deciding to go ahead as freelance guys.
With the Allen Stanford deal falling off, the ECB had no option but to toe the line and allow these guys to go ahead with a two-week window for the IPL, thus allowing the duo to be signed on by IPL franchises for a whopping sum of $1.55m each.
What has transpired now has landed ECB in the face of criticism yet again; as Flintoff has been reported injured after only three matches at the IPL and flown back to England. He had been carrying an injury for some time, but had been mysteriously declared fit before the start of this prestigious tournament. However, three matches into the tournament, he has limped off to England, thus jeopardising his chances of representing the country in ICC World T20.
This has caused much grievance to Hugh Morris and the ECB at large as Flintoff now needs a surgery for his knee and a rest period which may cause him to miss the T20 World Cup and probably the Ashes too.
To add to it, his performances in the tournament were anything but worth the amount spent on the cricketer; scoring only 62 runs in the three matches, picking only a couple of wickets and going for aplenty.
On the other hand, Pietersen’s form with the bat has been worrying too. What has been worse has been his captaincy, which has seen his team lose three successive matches and him forgetting the names of his own cricketers; not to mention his inability to strategise or be tactically sound on the field.
Vijay Mallya may already be ruing his options!