ECB confirm Kevin Pietersen omitted from England squad
Kevin Pietersen beat the ECB to the punch by earlier today posting on his Twitter site that he was out of the England squad for the remainder of the summer, but the news has now been confirmed on the ECB website.
The naming of the England squad also comes amidst the Pakistan betting controversy, which has been swirling since the News of the World this weekend published allegations that a group of Pakistan players were involved in spot-fixing, revolving around three deliberate no-balls bowled against England during the Test at Lord’s last week.
The scandal has left the remainder of Pakistan’s tour of England under a cloud of controversy as investigations into the involvement of three players in the alleged scam continue, with reports stating today that the three Pakistan players at the centre of the allegations, pacemen Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and Test captain Salman Butt – whose mobile phones were confiscated by police in the wake of the News of the World story – are heading back to London from the team’s current base in Taunton to hold talks with PCB chairman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128.
The ECB’s announcement of their squad for the Twenty20 Internationals and ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 is another strong indication that even as controversy clouds the series, cricket authorities remain intent on seeing through the tour to its bitter end.
Indeed, the announcement of England’s squad today looked set to inject some small normalcy into cricket after days of high drama – that is until the following message appeared on Pietersen’s Twitter page earlier today: “Yep...Done for the rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too...It’s a f**k up!! Surrey have signed me for I...” read the tweet, which has since been removed from the site.
Pietersen’s dumping from the squad after a largely indifferent Test series against Pakistan would have caused some shockwaves even had it taken place through official channels, but the method of its revelation has only served to intensify its impact.
KP will now see out the remainder of the county season with Surrey following a loan agreement between Hampshire and Surrey at the request of the England Team management and the ECB.
In providing reasons for Pietersen’s omission from the England squad, national selector, Geoff Miller, said via the ECB website that: “Kevin Pietersen has been omitted from both squads as we feel that his game would be best served by getting as much cricket under his belt as possible before a long and challenging winter.
“The remainder of the county season is an ideal opportunity to do just that and we thank http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789 for facilitating the loan period for the remainder of the county season,” Miller said.
Tags: