After all the speculation surrounding the future of star batsman, Kevin Pietersen, the ECB have now made the announcement that the 33 year old player’s international career is effectively over.
Pietersen, who is the leading run scorer for England across all three international formats; with 8181 runs to his name in Tests, 4440 runs in 136 ODI appearances and a further 1176 runs in T20’s, was given the news by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he was no longer a part of England’s plans.
New ECB Managing Director, Paul Downton, said that they are looking to rebuild the team, after the disastrous tour to Australia, but that it was important to rebuild the team ethic, as well as the team itself.
Although Pietersen, who made his international debut back in 2004, was the top scorer for England during the 5-0 Test Ashes series defeat, he was often criticised for the manner of his dismissals.
As recently as last month, the player had announced that he wanted to help England regain the Ashes in 2015, and he has made no secret of his target to score 10,000 Test match runs, and he was named in the provisional 30-man squad for the forthcoming World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March. However, the ECB have now decided that Pietersen no longer has a part to play in the national team, in any format of the game.
Pietersen’s legacy will be as a flawed genius. His 23 Test centuries place him second on the all-time list for England, behind only the current skipper, Alastair Cook, and only six players have played more Test matches for England.
He has also helped England to four Ashes successes, and been named as the player of the tournament when England won their one and only global silverware, the World Twenty20 in 2010.
However, he lasted just five months after being made captain in 2008, resigning when his relationship with the then coach Peter Moores broke down. Moores was subsequently sacked from his position as national coach. He was later dropped from a series against South Africa, when England lost their No 1 ranking, for sending inappropriate text messages to opposing players.
Like him or loathe him, Kevin Pietersen has always made people sit up and take notice when he has strode to the middle, in any form of cricket, and for whoever he was representing.
