There was once a time where sport was strictly business. Players would exchange handshakes or hellos on the field just to show the camera their cordiality and then return to their side to play. But when did familiarity in sports become camaraderie and camaraderie crossed lines?

Kevin Pietersen dropped by England for text message dispute

England cricket player Kevin Pietersen has been dropped from the third test against South Africa after he admitted to sending provocative texts to some the players to the other team. He agreed that he had sent out certain texts to his friends in the South African side but that he did not mean to cause a stir. He has issued a written apology however that will not still allow him to play in the third test against them.

“I apologize to Straussy and the team for the inappropriate remarks at the press conference and for the texts.” Andrew Strauss is the captain of the South African team.

The MD of the England team, Hugh Morris, said that just a written apology will not suffice or settle the issue. He said that further talks were needed to sort the incident out. Trust and respect, he said were two very important factors that the players have to act by and with the text blast, he is not sure if that still remains.

Pietersen perhaps forgot that even “friendly” tease texts are still over the limit when the space is not personal anymore and can jeopardize his future to playing He agreed that he had issues to sort out and talks to clarify. There have been orders issued into the matter which seek assurance that derogatory texts were not sent to the Captain Strauss. Pietersen however did not confirm not deny the claims as per the time constraint he was given and was then dropped from appearing in the third test.

There were hints the last week that Kevin Pietersen may be retiring from international cricket. But then he made the clarification on Saturday that he will still be continuing to play.

The issue is more than just a couple of texts, said Hugh Morris and it relates to the binding trust of the players and teams. He also added that it needed to be solved out through personal means and the media involvement would only fan the flames.

Tags: Cricket, England, Kevin Pietersen, Player, Short Message Service, SMS, South Africa