England national selector Geoff Miller was decidedly unimpressed by Kevin Pietersen’s foul-mouthed Twitter rant following his omission from the limited-overs squads to play Pakistan.
Pietersen pre-empted Tuesday’s official announcement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he had been left out of the squads for the upcoming limited-overs matches against Pakistan by several hours, with a post on social networking site Twitter.
That would not have endeared the South Africa-born batsman to the England management in any event, but the 30-year-old Pietersen, man of the tournament during England’s victorious World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean earlier this year, told his followers: “Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too. It’s a fuck up.”
Miller, speaking after Tuesday’s squad announcement, said: “I don’t like that kind of language and I don’t use that language at all.”
“I don’t think it is necessary,” the former England off-spinner added. “I’m still the national selector and what I do is select sides with my co-selectors that we think is right for England. My priority is the England side and it is not about individuals.”
Pietersen, who has gone 26 Test innings without a hundred, could now face disciplinary action, with an ECB spokesman saying: “We are considering the circumstances surrounding it [the Twitter post].”
Meanwhile, Miller added: “I’ll talk to KP. Whether there is an apology or not, I’m sure Andy Flower [the England coach] will have a word with him.”
Pietersen, never before dropped by England when fit, is now set to spend the rest of the season on-loan at Surrey from Hampshire in a bid to get some morale-boosting match practice.
“I’ll be watching games that he is participating in before the end of the season,” Miller said. “This won’t stop me talking to Kevin Pietersen and if he wants to apologize or thinks there is a need to apologize, then so be it. I will certainly explain to him what my feelings are. It is something I could do without.”
Pietersen was in more restrained mood when quoted in an ECB statement announcing the one-day parties, saying: “I have no issue with the selectors omitting me from the limited-overs squads.”
England’s limited-overs matches against Pakistan will take place under the cloud of the spot-fixing row engulfing the tourists.
The revelations led to calls for England’s two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan, in Cardiff, on Sunday and Tuesday, and a subsequent five-match one-day series between the countries to be scrapped, but with the games set to go ahead as scheduled, Miller said: “We’ll just have to see how the atmosphere is, we can’t do anything else.”
“It is a difficult time, but we have to accept that these games are going to be played and these are the best players to face it,” he said. “We will go out there and put a show on for the spectators. We hope there is a full crowd because we want to go out there as a national side and make them feel proud of us, and proud to be English.”
■KIESWETTER
AFP, TAUNTON, ENGLAND
England World Twenty20 winning wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is set to play as a batsman only in the upcoming two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan, it was announced on Tuesday.
Kieswetter was one of the stars in England’s World Twenty20 winning campaign in the Caribbean earlier this year where he both opened the innings and kept wicket, but the South Africa-born Kieswetter struggled for runs when asked to open the innings during England’s mid-season one-day internationals against Australia and Bangladesh.
Now, Surrey’s Steven Davies is set to keep wicket in both the two Twenty20 matches in Cardiff on Sunday and Tuesday and the subsequent five one-day internationals, while Kieswetter has been dropped from the one-day squad entirely.
Kieswetter had replaced Test wicketkeeper Matt Prior in both limited-overs formats this season, but England national selector Geoff Miller said: “Steven Davies has had an excellent year for Surrey this season and has earned his chance to take on the role as wicketkeeper in England’s limited-overs set-up.”
“As ever, the wicketkeeper’s role is a fiercely-contested position in the England team and we’ve no doubt Craig Kieswetter will continue to press for the chance to reclaim his place in the England ODI squad,” he said.
Kieswetter will get an early chance to show his worth in the 50-over format after being selected for county side Somerset in their one-day tour match against Pakistan at Taunton today.
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