Kevin Pietersen’s allegations of bullying within the England team were yesterday dismissed by the former chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The batsman’s autobiography went on general sale on Thursday and makes a series of claims against a number of figures within the England set-up, with former head coach Andy Flower and wicketkeeper Matt Prior the two most heavily criticised.
But David Collier, who until the summer held the top job at the ECB, said that it would not have been possible for England to enjoy so much success over the last decade had Pietersen’s claims had any substance to them.
“No accusation of bullying was ever made to me,” he said.
“In any professional sport certain managers and leaders do have intensity from time to time. People that we respect as some of the greatest football managers have been known to be fairly robust in dressing rooms. Andy (Flower) is an intensely passionate man, he has the most superb integrity.
“There is no way we could have had the success over his long and successful period if there hadn’t been huge respect within that dressing room.
“In any professional sport players will get frustrated with each other — that’s a fact of life. I didn’t see that as in any way affecting the team atmosphere.
“That team were very, very close and one of the frustrations at the moment for some of the senior players is they have created so much for English cricket over the past decade that they want that to be remembered. One of the reasons why is that they were all perfectionists and if you want perfection you have to be hard on yourself.”