Kevin Pietersen omitted from Hampshire t20 finals squad
The ECB has released Kevin Pietersen, among others, from England duties to play for their counties on Friends Provident t20 Finals Day but Hampshire has elected not to include their departing batsman in their squad.
Pietersen announced in June he would be ending a six-year association with the county club at the end of this season, but Hampshire’s decision not to include the London-based player in their squad for both a Clydesdale Bank 40 match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kent-c802 during July and this Saturday’s t20 finals effectively means their relationship has come to an end sooner than KP may have expected.
In a statement on the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789 CCC website, the club said that “since Kevin has already made it clear that he intends to play cricket elsewhere next season, the club believes the team’s best interests are best served by selecting those who have performed so well so far this season, many of whom are aspiring England players, themselves”.
“The players who have got the Royals to this point have made their county and everyone associated with the club very proud. We would, therefore, like to stand by them,” Club Chairman Rod Bransgrove said.
The decision means Pietersen’s final match for Hampshire is likely to have been a Friends Provident t20 match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 during July, which was the first time KP had represented the club in two years.
Along with Pietersen, Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783), and Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire) have been made available to their counties for the August 14th t20 finals day.
And Notts have had no hesitation at bolstering their bowling stocks with the addition of Broad and Swann. “We will select the best players available to us and Stuart and Graeme will add significant strength to our team,” said http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nottinghamshire-c826 Director of Cricket Mick Newell.
“I’ll talk to the players who will have to make way for Stuart and Graeme but everyone understands that we will pick the team that will give us the best possible chance of winning the match [against Somerset] and progressing to the final.”
The England players selected for the t20 finals will rejoin the England squad on Sunday to prepare for the third Test of the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, which begins at The Oval on August 18th.
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