article: Frustration was clear in the voices of Peter Moores and Alastair Cook  as they fended off repeated enquiries about Kevin Pietersen's future more than a year after he had seemingly been banished from international cricket for good. Well, there is only one person to blame — and that is Colin Graves. The incoming ECB chairman has been responsible for the mixed messages that leave the England team in as big a state of turmoil and internal rebellion as ever. Graves has forged an excellent reputation in English cricket as chairman of Yorkshire for the way he bankrolled and transformed the club, but his initial forays into the international game have been little short of an embarrassment. Colin Graves has made a habit of talking before thinking since being announced as ECB chairman . He has become the loose cannon of English cricket — and he has yet to take up office. It all started on March 1 when he gave an interview to Garry Richardson of the BBC, who is known for his persistence and admirable success in coaxing ear-catching sound bites from interviewees. So when Graves said that Pietersen — exiled for valid reasons after the last Ashes debacle before producing a nasty autobiography that only supported the ECB's decision — had to be playing county cricket to earn an England recall, it was put down to Yorkshire straight-talking. Yet subsequently, most importantly in a phone conversation with Pietersen, Graves has done little to play down the 34-year-old's chances — even if privately the chairman is said to be perplexed at the media's 'spin' on his apparent opening of the England door. If Graves, who has apparently assured senior figures that he does not want Pietersen back, really had no intention of encouraging the maverick, then he has made a right old mess of it. For he has created a soap opera that will run and run now Pietersen has rejoined Surrey and put huge pressure on a fledgling England middle order who made significant Test progress last summer. England head coach Peter Moores (left) and Alastair Cook  answer questions at a press conference . Not to mention completely undermining managing director Paul Downton and national selector James Whitaker, who have repeatedly clarified England's stance on the batsman over the last 14 months. And if Graves disagreed with the original decision to axe Pietersen, then he had a duty as deputy chairman of the ECB to say so then, not wait until he had taken over from Giles Clarke. That is not all. Since his Pietersen outburst, Graves has said that there will be an inquiry if England do not beat a 'mediocre' West Indies in the upcoming three-Test series. This prompted the respected Barbadian commentator Tony Cozier to liken the comments to Tony Greig's infamous intention in 1976 to make the West Indies 'grovel'. Then Graves came out with the ridiculous notion of reducing Test matches to four days. This would be achieved by introducing the unrealistic target of playing 105 overs a day — a move that would destroy the primacy of the ultimate game. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been linked with a return to the national side recently . If Graves wants to make himself useful, then he should concentrate on his supposed main aim of introducing a 10-team English Premier League franchise Twenty20 competition. Everybody bar a few myopic counties wants that. He could also do something about a crippling fixture list that will see England play 17 Tests in the next 10 months — a key factor in why they have fallen so far behind in the 50-over game and just endured the worst World Cup in their history. There is much for the ECB's new regime — which includes new chief executive Tom Harrison and communications director Chris Haynes — to do, but all the new chairman has done so far is make things worse. Colin Graves should think very carefully in future before he speaks.
highlights: Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves has handled the potential return of Kevin Pietersen very poorly .
  Graves has pitched several outlandish ideas about reducing Test matches to four days .
  He should focus his attention on addressing the England fixture congestion .
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