da jogodeouro： Kevin Pietersen has admitted that he would not be comfortable touring Bangladesh in the current circumstances.
da realbet： George Dobell26-Aug-2016Kevin Pietersen has admitted that he would not be comfortable touring Bangladesh in the current circumstances.The ECB announced on Thursday that England’s Test and ODI tour of the country would go ahead as planned after assurances from the Bangladesh government. A terrorist attack in Dhaka in July left many dead but a delegation of ECB and PCA officials visited Bangladesh in recent days and concluded that the security measures in place assured the team of safety.But Pietersen says that he would be unwilling to go at present and feels that senior England players, especially those with families, will be equally reluctant.”It’s not somewhere I’d like to be for the next six weeks,” Pietersen told ESPNcricinfo. “The young ODI side might not have too many issues, but the older Test side might have a few issues.”Some of the older guys might have kids and other responsibilities, and might think ‘How can I get out of going to Bangladesh?’ They may think of this as an opportunity to get out of a Bangladesh tour. They’ll be looking at it. I know a lot of journalists don’t want to go to Bangladesh. So it’s going to be tough.”This is going to be one of the hardest decisions Alastair Cook has to make. Would I want to go? No. But I don’t think one guy can pull out. If one goes, you’ve all got to go. It would be difficult to pull out of the tour.”Pietersen was captain of the England team that returned to India in late 2008 after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Having originally abandoned the tour during the ODI series, Pietersen was at the forefront of those arguing that the team should return to play the two Test series.But now, as a father of two, he admits it would be a much harder decision. And he accepts that he now has greater sympathy for those players who were originally less keen to return to India – not least Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff – due to their responsibilities as parents.Ultimately, the whole squad, including Flintoff and Harmison, returned to India. But there was cynicism from some players over Pietersen’s motives for wanting to return and he feels the episode “damaged a lot of relationships”.”That’s why I’ve said I wasn’t the right person to captain England at the time,” Pietersen said. “I didn’t understand the circumstances of the guys who had kids at that time. I didn’t understand it at all.”I think it damaged a lot of relationships for me with the side and senior players. I wish I wasn’t captain of England at that time.”I did it before I had kids. It makes a huge difference. Your responsibilities change. Your priorities change. It would have been a harder decision.”Pietersen was speaking at Wellington College where his charitable foundation (The KP24 Foundation) is running a residential camp for 70 young people, many of them from ethnic minorities and quite a few refugees fleeing war, identified by county cricket boards and the Chance to Shine charity.”This is about helping kids,” he said. “It’s what I’ve dedicated myself to since I’ve calmed down on my cricketing front. I hope this is my legacy. It’s far more important than a stupid sport.”For more information visit kp24foundation.com
