Despite triple ton, KP told he isn’t good enough for England
London, May 12: England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said on Tuesday that Kevin Pietersen was “not part of our plans for the summer”, saying there was a “massive trust issue” between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the controversial batsman.
Strauss stopped short of saying there was no way back into the international set-up for fellow former England captain Pietersen, adding: “He is not banned from the side but I can give him no guarantees for the future.”
Pietersen, 34, England’s leading all-time run-scorer across all formats, was sent into international exile last year following the team’s 0-5 Ashes thrashing in Australia.
But the South Africa-born batsman was given hope of an international recall when new ECB chairman Colin Graves said there could be a way back if he scored enough runs in county cricket.
Yet just hours after he made his maiden first-class triple century for Surrey on Monday, Pietersen was told there was no prospect of him being selected by England in the immediate future,, and in practice that may mean the end of Pietersen’s England career. As England captain, Strauss infamously had his own issues of “trust” with Pietersen in 2012 when he had sent “provocative” texts critical of his skipper to South Africa players. Strauss, in his first press conference since being appointed to the director role after the ECB sacked former managing director Paul Downton, told Sky Sports: “No one is doubting his (Pietersen’s) ability. His record stacks up and he should be proud of that,” added Strauss, with Pietersen’s tally of 23 Test hundreds just shy of the England record of 26 held by current captain Alastair Cook.
“But over months and years the trust has eroded between him and the ECB and there is a massive trust issue between Kevin and me,” said Strauss.
“And because of that, we’ve decided it is not in the best short-term interests of the side for him to be in it. I told him last night that he’s not part of our plans for the summer.”