Monday, October 29, 2007

A Coach's Betrayal.

John Wright did it to India and now Duncan Fletcher has done it to Andrew Flintoff.

It disgusts me no end when cricketers or those associated with the game in one way or the other retire and then publish a book comprising of scandalous stories that are meant to be personal, kept inside the dressing room, or for discussions within the team management and boards. The reason I hate this so much is cause these people do it to make a quick dollar.

There's nothing wrong with publishing a book or writing an autobiography, talking about ones career and the highs and lows of it. But to publish stories about the cricketers one was involved with, which you could not speak of while you were a professional due to a code of conduct, is criminal. Moreover, during their professional careers, these people continue to praise the individuals they work with, while as soon as they move on, they come out with scathing attacks.

I'm not saying what Flintoff did was right in anyway - no one should be drinking that heavily before matches or turn up drunk during practices, but that is an issue that Mr. Fletcher should have sorted out with Flintoff and the ECB. I'm sure he did. Why come out with this story in your book? The public, including me, love reading this stuff, and obviously it will help enhance the sales of Mr. Fletcher's books, but doing the wrong thing to make that extra dollar is just not on.

I don't want to portray a 'holier than thou attitude' as I would be the 1st one to admit that I love reading scandals involving celebrities. I have no issues with the media reporting a cricketer's drinking problem, sex life, or a dressing room arguement; but a former coach doing the same about a player, is a betrayal!

Make your pitch on this post...



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