England's Kevin Pietersen: Hot Spot had a 'stinker' during Ashes series

England's Kevin Pietersen: Hot Spot had a 'stinker' during Ashes series

Cricket news, scores and fixtures | Sport | The GuardianToday, 01:15

• Pietersen has 'no issues' with using DRS system in future
• England batsman maintains he did not use silicone tape

Kevin Pietersen believes the Hot Spot system "had an absolute stinker" during the Ashes. The decision review system (DRS) was under the spotlight for much of the summer, with the infra-red imaging particularly scrutinised as it became clear that not all edges were being picked up.

England and Australia found themselves aggrieved by umpiring verdicts as a result but Pietersen was dragged into the row when the television network Channel 9 appeared to implicate him in a report about the use of silicone tape on the edge of his bat.

Its suggestion was that the tape helped fool the technology when ball hit bat, but Pietersen immediately denied he had used the product.

"Hot Spot had an absolute stinker this summer for whatever reason, but no one was taping their bats with any artificial strapping or silicone," Pietersen told Talksport. "I've had the same strapping on my bat since 1995, when I became a professional. All the pros put fibreglass tape on their bat and I copied everyone else. Every cricketer in the world does it.

"I woke up one morning in the team hotel and my Twitter had just blown up. People were calling me a cheat and some horrible expletives and I didn't know what was going on. I had a look at it and saw they had broken the news at 6am [UK time] on Channel 9 and my image was used and referenced.

"I clearly denied it straight away on Twitter, and it was done and dusted from my mind. It didn't really bother me. I had a lot more things to worry about than the strapping on my bat. It was ridiculous. It was just somebody being naughty and had no bearing on anything I did, and it won't in the future."

Despite Pietersen's apparent criticism of Hot Spot, the England and Wales Cricket Board remains supportive of technology in the sport and Pietersen admitted he is not agitating for a change.

"We just don't understand how Hot Sprt didn't work as well as it had done before," he said. "We've never had these issues and I know the players are happy with Hot Spot and with DRS. There are no issues."

Pietersen also said he was over his niggling knee problems.

"It was tough but I've done some incredible rehab in the last three weeks and it feels like I have a different knee, I'm feeling so good on it," he said. "For the first time since February I am totally pain-free and I am continuing to do the right things.

"It was probably the best decision I made for my career not to have surgery because if I had done I would be out till next February.I've felt like a different person. You know what it's like with injuries; when you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning there is that little bit of negativity.

"You can't really focus solely on your job so to have come through it gives me a lot more positivity in everything I do.When you get to 33 you are definitely in your second cycle of your career and it is a case of ticking all the right boxes to keep you on the field."

Ashes 2013
Kevin Pietersen
Cricket
The Ashes
England cricket team
Australia cricket team
Australia sport

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