{"id":376847,"date":"2025-12-28T21:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/376847\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T21:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:36:10","slug":"kevin-pietersen-takes-to-social-media-after-boxing-day-test-calls-out-powerhouses-to-save-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/376847\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Pietersen takes to social media after Boxing Day Test, calls out powerhouses to save format"},"content":{"rendered":"

England cricket great Kevin Pietersen<\/a> has put the onus on cricket’s ‘powerhouse’ nations to make a decision around Test cricket after the two day Boxing Day match<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The reaction to the MCG pitch has been fierce<\/a> since the Test ended and coupled with a growing concern for the future of the red-ball format.<\/p>\n

What complicates that concern is the continued demand for Test matches in Australia, with crowd records consistently broken over the 2025 summer.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Master Lock Comanche crew celebrates ‘redemption’ victory<\/a><\/p>\n

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However, many nations have for a long time been putting increased focus in the shorter format of T20 due to the riches on offer. <\/p>\n

During the Test, Pietersen had described it an “utter shambles” and has since put more onus on the batting performance from both sides. <\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Kevin Pietersen. \u00a0Action Images via Reuters\/Peter Cziborra<\/p>\n

“I’ve given The Ashes more thought – what I mentioned a while back about batting techniques is ringing louder and louder. Re-emphasising previous opinion, that they’re simply not being built on the foundations of defence,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“It’s so good to see other former players now acknowledging the same modern day flaws. So when you get a wicket that’s quite spicy, the result like MCG will happen.<\/p>\n

“I like to find solutions for noticeable issues but I can’t find one with this.<\/p>\n

“T20 cricket now governs the world game and defence is certainly not a priority for the modern day player. You cannot blame the player.<\/p>\n

“He is a business and must take all the cash he can! I’ve always backed the players!<\/p>\n

“The question remains – do the powerhouses that govern the game want Test cricket to survive or is it merely lip service to the loyal fans of that form of cricket? Is the money for boards so good in franchises for domestic tournaments too good to not prioritise it?<\/p>\n

“Why didn’t Sky take the Ashes, being the UK’s home of cricket? I seriously don’t know the full answers to these questions.<\/p>\n

“I’m in SA and Boxing Day in Cape Town was a T20! As someone who belongs to the 100 Test Club, it’s very, very hard to watch.”<\/p>\n

As Pietersen mentioned, Sky Sports did not win the rights to host The Ashes this season. TNT Sports has broadcasted the television rights back to England instead.<\/p>\n

Sky Sports has however broadcast a daily podcast with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. Atherton also has a role as The Times’s chief cricket correspondent while Hussain is writing a column for The Athletic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England cricket great Kevin Pietersen has put the onus on cricket’s ‘powerhouse’ nations to make a decision around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-376847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}