ECB chief: S Africa made Pietersen row worse

South Africa have been accused of provoking the text message scandal that led to England batsman Kevin Pietersen being sent into international exile. Pietersen was dropped for the final Test between England and South Africa earlier this year. England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive David Collier has claimed Pietersen was only replying to Blackberry Messenger messages sent by the opposition which he felt were unnecessary. “That’s our understanding,” Collier told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme on Sunday. “I have not seen those messages and no one has kept those messages, that’s why it takes some time. “It is a very thin line between fair and unfair. These were responses to messages from certain members of the South Africa team and I would not condone an England player doing it if it was the other way around, and I certainly think they (South Africa) provoked the situation.”