Cricket: Pietersen's tweet not sweet for Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss says all is not sweet with Kevin Pietersen's tweet which labelled Adelaide Oval groundsmen as pathetic.

Key batsmen Pietersen fumed when practice pitches were uncovered during a sudden downpour in Adelaide on Wednesday, forcing the tourists to train indoors.

He reportedly made his feelings known to curators at the ground before using Twitter to express his displeasure.

"What should a groundsmen make sure he does 2days out from a test match????" Pietersen wrote. "Cover the nets when it rains maybe???

"PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Pietersen in September used Twitter to profanely reveal his dropping from the England side for a one-day series against Pakistan, before any official announcement.

Captain Strauss said that England's cricketers had strict guidelines on the use of social networking sites, but refused to say what they were.

Asked if Pietersen had crossed the line, Strauss replied: "No, he didn't.

"But it was, obviously, there are kinds of degrees of everything, and we don't want anything that distracts our attention from what is important, which is getting on the cricket pitch and performing."

Strauss believed Pietersen failed to realise the potential ramifications of his tweet.

"Kevin was just frustrated because he wanted to have a long bat yesterday and he wasn't able to do that, so he vented a bit of frustration," he said.

Strauss said he rarely used social networking websites, but added "I wouldn't prefer all of our players to be exactly like me, it would be a pretty boring dressing room.

"Everyone is different and a lot of the guys really enjoy it," he added.

"And it is a good way of broadening the appeal of the game, there is no doubt about it - it allows players to be in contact with people that support the game, so there are some real benefits to it.

"But it has to be used responsibly and by and large it has been.

"We have to make sure that we don't have any more incidences of the likes of what we have seen previously."

Strauss said Wednesday's loss of outdoor practice was "not something that I was particularly concerned about".

 

 

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