Forget about KP: Waugh tells ECB

London, April 21: Australia great Stephen Waugh has told England to forget about an international recall for Kevin Pietersen, saying he was no longer a great player and wasn’t worth a place in the current Test side.

South Africa-born batsman Pietersen has not played for England since controversially being axed last year following the team’s 0-5 Ashes thrashing in Australia.

But the 34-year-old has repeatedly insisted he wants to force his way back into the England set-up.

Paul Downton, who as England and Wales Cricket Board managing director played a key role in sending Pietersen into the international wilderness, was recently forced out of his position by new chiefs at Lord’s.

And incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves has suggested Pietersen could muscle his way back into the England set-up if he scored enough runs in the County Championship.

Last week Pietersen, who has re-signed with Surrey rather than play in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League, got tongues wagging with an innings of 170, albeit in a match against Oxford students that wasn’t a first-class fixture.

Pietersen, England’s alltime leading run-scorer in all international formats, has an impressive Test record of 8,181 runs at 47.28 with 23 hundreds but Waugh said the team needed to look to the future.

“England have got to make a clean break and look forward to the future,” Waugh was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

England have got to make a clean break and look forward to the future. I don’t think his form warrants a spot in the England side. He may have been a great player but I wouldn’t class him as one now. First, he has to be one of the best six batsmen in the country, which he’s not. Then is he right for the current setup?

— STEVE WAUGH Former Oz captain on

Kevin Pietersen

“Sometimes you have to have short-term pain to get the long-term gain.

“I don’t think his form warranted a spot in the England side. He may have been a great player but I wouldn’t class him as one now.”

Waugh, who led a hugely successful Australia Test side from 1999-2004, also said Pietersen’s history of off-field rows had to be taken into account.

“First, he has to be one of the best six batsmen in the country, which he’s not,” Waugh said. “Then is he right for the current setup? The number one thing is you’ve got to respect each other. Once this stops you’re in real trouble,” Waugh added.