06 July 2023 , 09:24
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Steve Harmison has hit back at his former teammate Kevin Pietersen after his criticism of England's approach during the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Pietersen branded their display on day one "absolutely shambolic" and tore into England for the way they bowled, showing a real lack of urgency and intensity and for being too friendly to their Australian opponents. "It's all too easy and it's all too nice," Pietersen fumed on Sky Sports.
"Are you telling me Ricky Ponting in 2005 is going to be talking to Geraint Jones? Do you think Michael Vaughan would be standing next to Justin Langer saying, 'hey mate, what a cool day. Look at this it's overcast, it's beautiful. What an awesome day at Lord's'. Are you joking? Are you absolutely joking?"
And Harmison, who played alongside Pietersen in 30 Test matches for England including the historic 2005 Ashes win, believes that while he had a point with his criticism of England's lack of urgency, his claim they are "too nice" to Australia is unfair. Harmison also suggested it is hypocritical for Pietersen to be the one making such a claim given his history of "being friendly with the opposition".
"The rest of it, too friendly? The modern game with these franchises, players often sharing dressing rooms. They're human beings, there's a human element.," Harmison told OnlineCricketBetting. "Unfortunately, when someone is going to throw stones into glass houses, I don't think KP is the one to throw them when it comes to being friendly with the opposition.
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"That's all I'd say. We all know what I'm trying to say when it comes to Kevin and being friendly with the opposition, at times, there was more friendliness to the opposition than his own teammates.
"He didn't have a great deal of time for James Taylor and one or two more of the England players that he played with during that Test match but he was very friendly with the opposition." Harmison then went on to discuss the infamous 2012 Textgate scandal, where he sent messages to members of the South Africa team during a Test series allegedly insulting captain Andrew Strauss and offering advice on how to get him out.
Pietersen has admitted to insulting Strauss in the texts, but denies he gave South Africa tips on dismissing him. "That textgate was blown out of proportion and a load of nonsense really. It doesn't matter if you're telling someone how to get Sir Andrew Strauss out, everyone knew how to get him out because of cameras and everything that comes with it," Harmison added.
"You've still got to bowl the ball in the area and Sir Andrew Strauss has got 'Sir' in front of him for a reason, because he was a quality player. I think sometimes, I think you can go a bit too far with what you say and I've done it many times, Kev took some stick for it, he will still take some stick for it but again, there's no changing Kev and I think he's brilliant on commentary.
"I think he's excellent, really insightful and really passionate. Probably more passionate as a commentator than a player but you get surprised now and again."