Kevin Pietersen denies threatening to quit England's 2013-14 Ashes tour
Wednesday 8 October 2014 19:24, UK
Kevin Pietersen has given his reaction to the leaked ECB document which sets out a series of allegations against the former England batsman.
Perhaps the most serious accusation of all is that Pietersen threatened to quit the Ashes tour if England went 3-0 down in the series, a suggestion which the 34-year-old has rejected out of hand.
Pietersen told Cricinfo: "No, no. Why would I do that? It's a ridiculous story.
"The only issue was with my knee. I almost didn't play in that Test. My knee was really hurting. I was batting the day before the Test and I walked out of the nets and told Andy (Flower) that I was really struggling. I called the physio over. But that's not the same as trying to quit a tour, is it?
"I had the option of micro-fracture surgery before the Ashes in England but I said 'No, I want to play these 10 Tests'."
Pietersen has also strenuously denied suggestions that he singled out team-mate James Taylor for criticism during a dressing-room tirade at Headingley in 2012.
He said: "There's this lie out there that I rubbished him in front of the team. It's not true. I spoke to Andy Flower about him. It was a private conversation.
"It was a senior player talking to the coach in private. I expressed my views when asked. To have private conversations turned into a media story on Monday morning that I was ridiculing James Taylor in the dressing room is ridiculous."
Pietersen now hopes that more players will come out to back up his own claims about bullying.
"I needed to bring up that issue," he said. "It wasn't a nice environment. Guys were picked on big time. Some other players will come out eventually and say the same thing."
