Back in 2014, Piers Morgan, a broadcaster notorious for going over the top in his social media rants, had accused then England captain Alastair Cook of playing a part in edging out Kevin Pietersen from the England team, calling Cook a ‘weasel’. “As for you Alastair Cook – what a repulsive little weasel you’ve turned out to be. Aside from worst ever Ashes tour captain. #KPSacked,” Piers Morgan had tweeted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), 11 years ago.
In a recent episode of the Stick To Cricket podcast, Morgan and Cook came face to face with the broadcaster apologising to the ex-player for being hostile towards him for all these years.
“And the real victim I think were the England cricket fans who would have loved another five years of Kevin Pietersen. And I just felt the fact that he never played again after 33, still to me feels like it could have been better handled. I have to admit I was very full on against you (Alastair) personally, without knowing you. And when I look back at some of the things I tweeted about you, I know you’re not on social media, but I did go over the top. So, I will take this opportunity. I’m sorry for the 38 weasel references,” Piers Morgan said.
“I was a part of the decision that KP never played again. Do I regret it? You make the decision because you think it’s the right thing for England cricket at that time. Obviously you are a part of it, you are not overall responsible but there’s loads of things. I don’t know whether we got it right or wrong. What I do know was that it was handled badly from both sides,” Cook reflected on the decision.
Pietersen was sacked by England after their 5-0 Ashes whitewash defeat early in 2014. Before that, the South African-born Pietersen also had a falling out with former teammate Andrew Strauss, the then director of cricket. The swashbuckling middle-order batsman was dropped for a test against South Africa in 2012 after sending provocative texts about Strauss to the opposition.
Former Middlesex opener Strauss was then forced to issue an apology in July 2014 after being caught on microphone making offensive remarks about Pietersen while on a commentary stint with Sky.
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