Pietersen, Swann leading campaign to stop players being banned from Twitter

LONDON - England cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann are leading a campaign to stop players from being banned from Twitter, and have already made it clear they want to continue using the social networking site.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is likely to relax their original plan to ban all contracted England players from posting their views with strict guidelines in their new contracts, which will be signed before they leave in October for the Ashes tour and will run for four years.

Pietersen tweeted: “I’ve also heard the rumours about a ban on Twitter, but nothing official. So, business as usual. Have a good day!!”

Swann wrote: “Rumours of my being banned from Twitter are exaggerated…”

England under-19 captain Azeem Rafiq was banned earlier this month after a foul-mouthed tirade against his coach John Abrahams on Twitter, The Sun reports.

Fast bowler Tim Bresnan was embroiled in an angry online exchange with a follower during last winter’s tour of South Africa.

An ECB spokesman said: “Networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are relatively new so we want to lay down guidelines for the players. It will just be a case of common sense.” (ANI)