Paul Allott says England paid the price for not being able to grasp the concept of the Stanford Series.
England's failure to buy into the fun has cost them
Paul Allott says England only have themselves to blame for missing out on the Stanford Super Series $20million bonanza.
Kevin Pitersen's side were left with empty pockets after being punished for a woeful batting display by the Caribbean representative side led superbly by Chris Gayle.
Bowled out for 99, England were thrashed by 10 wickets and were left watching as the Stanford Superstars celebrated the richest prize cricket has ever seen.
Pietersen blamed "a lot of nonsense" in the build-up for distracting his players but Allott believes their inability to grasp the concept of the whole series was what did for them when it really mattered.
"There's been a lot of nonsense; we haven't concentrated on our cricket; we need to buy into the event more? Well, goodness me, the players themselves should've been experienced enough and big enough to realise they have got to buy into the event," he told
Sky Sports.
"As for the 'nonsense', well they've got to put that to the back of their mind.
"If that's come from the ECB or the PCA, I don't know - I don't really think it's from Allen Stanford. It's disappointing that the team haven't been able to buy into the event.
"England only have themselves to blame.
"There was no reason for the players to feel guilty about winning the money. This attitude must have come down the line from the ECB, maybe the Players' Association.
Pantomime
"They weren't allowed to talk about the money and the moment one of them, Alistair Cook, started to talk about the money, he was slapped across the wrist
"They've not bought into the concept. They've got to buy into it and they knew it's going to be a pantomime."
If England played the role of villains, Gayle and his team happily lived up to their billing of crowd favourites.
An efficient display in the field left Pietersen and his men with a paltry 99 to defend, a target that Gayle (65no) and Andre Fletcher (32no) rattled off inside 13 overs.
"Isn't it fitting that Allen Stanford's $20million goes to his team?" said Allott. "I think it's just about right.
"The Superstars played quite stunning cricket, Twenty20 cricket as it should be played. They were disciplined with the ball, disciplined in the field and they caught all their catches bar one.
"And then, when they batted, well they were quite jittery to start with and they could have been two wickets down in the first couple of overs - they could have been two or three down. But once they got going, they decided there's only one way to play the game.
"Fletcher hits the ball and as for Chris Gayle, there's no better hitter of a cricket ball in world cricket - and once they decided they were going to play their shots, it was a demolition job well done."
