Teflon Man Giles Clarke defends the indefensible - as ever.

In an interview in the Sunday Times today ECB Chairman Giles Clarke says the following:

"What I’ve learnt in my time in cricket administration is that the important thing is to make the right decision, however much it is disapproved of. I learnt that with selling the TV rights to Sky in 2004. If you’re going to make a hard decision, don’t vacillate.

“I’m confident the public will still support us [despite the loss of the Ashes and Pietersen]. Sport is about regeneration and we have exciting young players in Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes. They will empty the bars as much as anyone.

“We had not scored 400 in 13 Tests. People expect our batting unit to deliver and so do the selectors. We want the nation to be excited and proud of our team, as we are of our women’s team. We’ve got to wake up. Alastair Cook needs to stamp his authority and I’m sure he will.”

The Clarke tactics, as ever, are to divert attention from his own failings. The KP affair was a minor sideshow which the venal Mr Clarke chose to make centre stage. England did not lose "The Ashes" because of Kevin Pietersen - we all know that. We lost because an ill-chosen, badly coached, incompetently-captained and rather arrogant and unpleasant team were outfought, out thought and (yes) out-sledged by Australia. Giles Clarke bears the ultimate responsibility for England's shambolic fall from grace. Once Clarke had sacked Andy Flower (not unreasonably) he then ducked the obvious next step which was to sack Alastair Cook as well. Instead he chose to say that Cook, clearly part of the problem, will lead the recovery! And to suggest that Cook's failure was in some way attributable not to his own self-evident inadequacies as a Captain but to Kevin Pietersen is characteristic Clarke mendacity. Pietersen is generally liked by the younger fans who cricket needs for the future, but he is disliked by Clarke's generation - especially those with red and yellow ties who sit in the power seats of English cricket. So he was dispensable. 

Clarke is Teflon man - he should not have survived the disgraceful Stanford affair nor the removal of live cricket from free-to-air cricket about which he now boasts. His position is shorn up by the 18 counties who are totally reliant on ECB patronage. And yet he now has his grubby hands on the levers of power in world cricket. Barely believable.