If the ECB has been looking for a reason to stop central contracted players from using social media, it appears Kevin Pietersen has given them one yesterday. But would it really matter if they do?

Several new media experts, like Louis Halpern, have pointed at the benefits sites like Twitter and Facebook can have for cricket in general:

Particularly in the case of cricket, where international games are no longer covered by terrestrial television, fans have never been more far removed from their heroes. Social media platforms such as Twitter can be a perfect tonic to those disenfranchised, non-Sky subscribers, giving the ECB and individual players a great opportunity to tap into and communicate directly with their most loyal fan bases.

via Cricinfo.com

I think he has a point, but currently it is nothing more than that: an opportunity.

Most England players do not share a lot of interesting thoughts on cricket, or any other topic for that matter. They are also not the most social users, as they hardly interact with other users, like Halpern suggests.

So the loss for us ‘disenfranchised fans’ probably will not be too big if the ECB puts a ban on Twitter.

Personally, I would miss Swann’s tweets, but I don’t think it will leave a gaping hole in my timeline if he and his teammates stop tweeting. There are other cricket related accounts I value a whole lot more.

What about you? Would you be sorry if England players got banned from using Twitter?