CorpComms Magazine

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is set to tighten rules governing cricketers' use of social networks following the fining of two England players for posting obscene messages attacking selectors on Twitter.

Former England Captain Kevin Pietersen was fined an undisclosed sum for revealing his omission from the England one-day squad on 31 August with the tweet: 'Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20, and dropped from the T20 side too. It's a f**k-up...'

Dimitri Mascarenhas has also been fined £1,000 for calling the chairman of selectors Geoff Miller 'a complete knob'.

Whilst a total tweeting ban has been ruled out, the ECB is looking to create a policy governing Twitter usage in time for the Ashes in Australia this winter.

Hugh Morris, managing director of the ECB, told BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday: 'With freedom of speech comes responsibility. It must be used that way. The specific wording is yet to be agreed between ourselves and the Professional Cricketers' Association but certainly there will be some management around the use of Twitter. It's a good opportunity but it needs to be used in the right way.' 

Both players have issued formal apologies.

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