Kevin Pietersen's 2013 Ashes ally Michael Carberry slams ECB for dumping him post series

Former England opening batsman Michael Carberry recently criticised the England team management. While the cricketer played all five Test matches of the 2013-14 Ashes series, he represented England in only one ODI thereafter. Even though England lost the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia by a 5-0 margin, Michael Carberry was one of the better performers for the touring party. He scored 281 runs across five matches to end up as England’s second-highest run-scorer in the series behind Kevin Pietersen (294 runs).

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Michael Carberry slams England management for treatment after Ashes 2013-14 disaster

Michael Carberry recently spoke on the Broken Trophy Podcast. In the show, the left-handed batsman said “there is a right way and a wrong way to deal with people” and described his treatment by the England team management after the 2013-14 Ashes as “abysmal”. He claimed that it was not just his doing that England lost the Ashes and cited his performance as one of the better ones for the then Alastair Cook-led side.

Michael Carberry then spoke about his absence from the ODI series that followed, which England lost 4-1. In spite of being the second-highest run-scorer in Tests and performing well against the Prime Minister’s XI, the left-handed batsman said that he was not considered for the playing XI in ODIs. He recalled asking to then limited-overs coach Ashley Giles about his future, something to which he got no reply. Michael Carberry then criticised Andy Flower (Head Coach in Tests) as well as Ashley Giles by saying England coaches at the time worried about their own careers instead of “doing their job as a coach”.

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Michael Carberry on Kevin Pietersen’s axing

In an interview with The Guardian after the tour, he also questioned Kevin Pietersen’s axing from the squad as the 2013-14 Ashes turned out to be the last set of Test matches in both their careers. Michael Carberry said that both he and Kevin Pietersen were “slinging mud” with the England team management, claiming it to be the reason behind their axing. Carberry and Pietersen played together for Hampshire in the past and the former's support for his famous 'senior' back then, seems to have turned against him.

A revisit to England’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Michael Clarke and co.

England toured Australia in November 2013 for a gruelling Ashes summer as title holders, having won the previous edition at home by a 3-0 margin in 2013. However, they forfeited the title on their trip as Australia, led by their charismatic leader, Michael Clarke, won all contests with convincing margins. Australia's premier fast bowler at the time, Mitchell Johnson, ripped through the likes of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pieterse and Ian Bell throughout the series on his way to collecting 37 wickets and a Compton-Miller Medal. Captain Michael Clarke himself scored 363 runs while David Warner (523 runs) and Brad Haddin (493 runs) were the other top-performers with the bat.

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Image credits: Cricket Australia (cricket.com.au)