Kevin Pietersen insisted his England career is not over after the controversial batsman was dropped for his country's crucial third Test against South Africa at Lord's.
Pietersen was axed yesterday after a dramatic week that started with allegations he sent text messages to South African players containing derogatory comments about English captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower.
The 32-year-old, who had just scored a superb century in the drawn second Test against South Africa at Headingley, followed that bombshell by claiming he was ready to walk away from the sport due to what he perceived as problems in the England squad that he said “made it hard being me”.
And then, with speculation increasing that he would be dropped when the third Test squad was named yesterday, the saga took a bizarre twist when Pietersen posted a video on YouTube on Saturday in which he claimed he was now ready to play in all forms of international cricket. With his international career seemingly in tatters, Pietersen released a statement later last night that made it clear he would continue to make himself available for selection “I am hugely disappointed that the ECB have decided not to select me. To say I am gutted is an understatement,” Pietersen said.
“However, none of this constitutes the end of my career as an international cricketer. The video I released was my way to bring closure to the issues I had at that time. I had an emotional time at Headingley but I stand by every word I said in the video.”
{{/usCountry}}“However, none of this constitutes the end of my career as an international cricketer. The video I released was my way to bring closure to the issues I had at that time. I had an emotional time at Headingley but I stand by every word I said in the video.”
{{/usCountry}}SA manager says KP texts were 'banter'
South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee has denied that Kevin Pietersen sent derogatory text messages about members of the England team to South Africa players. Moosajee said on Monday that “text messages were sent but like we said before it was banter among teammates, which is perfectly acceptable" and that "the ECB has not made a formal approach to myself or any member of the team to see the text messages.”