Giles Clarke: Utter nonsense to say England are at some sort of massive low ebb

There is a story going round that the reason Kevin Pietersen’s England contract was cancelled was a players’ revolt. Following the 5-0 Ashes debacle, the rest of the team told the mercurial star: “If you’re not going to win matches for us, you might as well go.”

As I narrate this story, Giles Clarke, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, creases up with laughter, saying: “I don’t think things got quite that cynical.”