NO WAY BACK
Pietersen hits 326 but Strauss tells him: We won’t pick you for England
KEVIN PIETERSEN was last night told to forget about an England recall, just hours after smashing a career-best 326 for Surrey.
The 34-year-old maverick plundered 34 fours and 14 sixes off Leicestershire’s attack in his unbeaten onslaught at The Oval before meeting new director of England cricket Andrew Strauss. And last night a tweet from BBC’s Test Match Special claimed: ‘ We understand that Kevin Pietersen has been told this evening that he won’t be picked to play for England again.’
Pietersen (left) had insisted he ‘ deserved’ to play for England again following an innings he described as ‘one of my best ever’. But that was before he set off to meet Strauss and the ECB
chief executive Tom Harrison. Strauss will be officially unveiled in his new role at Lord’s today and can expect a grilling. But Pietersen was in no doubt that he had done all he could to make his case for a stunning return following his sacking last year in the wake of the disastrous Ashes whitewash. Pietersen said: ‘That’s one of my best innings I’ve ever played, purely because I knew that tomorrow there’s a press conference and I knew there were things happening this evening. ‘I knew I needed to basically answer any questions with runs. I think 326 is a pretty good argument. ‘What more can I do? I was told by the chairman-elect to get a county. I was told to score runs. I’ve always said since my knee was sorted in Australia that if my knee’s good, I’ll play well. I played well in the Big Bash. I gave up a contract in India. I’m not playing for any money here. I’m dedicated to getting back my England place. I want my England place and I think I deserve my England place.’