Star batsman Kevin Pietersen said he was “devastated” after being informed on Tuesday by newly appointed England director of cricket Andrew Strauss that he would not feature for the national team over the home summer because there was a “massive trust issue.”
Strauss, in his first press conference since being appointed to the director role after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sacked Paul Downton, stopped short of saying there was no way back into the international setup 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 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.
Photo: AP
However, 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 by Strauss there was no prospect of him being selected by England in the immediate future — and in practice that might mean the end of Pietersen’s international career.
“I am absolutely devastated that it looks like my hopes of an England recall have been brought to a close, especially given everything that has been said and asked of me,” Pietersen said in a furious attack in his column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “They have used the word trust to justify not selecting me, well, trust is a two-way thing. I couldn’t believe just half an hour after I had my meeting, the result of it was on the Internet and on the BBC airwaves.”
“Now I certainly didn’t tell anybody, so who did?” he asked. “They say they don’t trust me, but how can anybody trust them?”
As England captain, Strauss infamously had his own issues of “trust” with Pietersen in 2012 when the star batsman sent “provocative” texts critical of his skipper to opposition South Africa players.
“No one is doubting his ability,” Strauss told Sky Sports.
“His record stacks up and he should be proud of that, 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,” Strauss said, with Pietersen’s tally of 23 Test centuries just shy of the England record of 26 held by captain Alastair Cook. “That is the reality — 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.”
Pietersen published an autobiography last year that was severely critical of many England teammates and former coach Andy Flower.
Pietersen has now been ruled out of the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand, which is to start next week, and the ensuing Ashes campaign, as well as England’s home limited-overs internationals this year.
“I have never hidden my determination to once again represent England and having played one of the best innings of my career earlier in the day, I must admit I was riding the crest of a wave,” Pietersen said after earlier making 355 not out against Leicestershire in a County Championship Division 2 match at The Oval.
“I went into the meeting expecting Strauss to say that England’s batting order is good at the moment, but if I continued to score runs and if an injury occurred then I would be in contention to play,” Pietersen said. “I would naturally have to earn my recall, but at least I would be eligible, but no. Quite simply, I feel deeply misled.”
It was a view supported by several former England captains, with Bob Willis saying Pietersen had been sent on a “wild goose chase.”
Strauss subsequently said he had offered Pietersen a role as an “adviser” on one-day cricket.
“I told him to forget it,” Pietersen said. “How can he in one sentence say we cannot trust you and then in the next try and say we want you to be on a board because you have such a wonderful cricket brain?”
The batsman said he would be heading back to India tomorrow to join up with Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“It’ll give me a good opportunity to cool down and assess what I’m going to do next. I’m just sorry it won’t be putting on an England shirt,” Pietersen said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB