England's Kevin Pietersen reacted angrily on Twitter to
being dropped. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Kevin Pietersen reacted angrily on Twitter after being
dropped from England's Twenty20 and one-day international
squads for the forthcoming series against Pakistan.
The England and Wales Cricket Board's announcement came
around four hours after the news was revealed via an angry
post on Pietersen's Twitter account.
"Yep... Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20
and dropped from the T20 side too... It's a f--- up!! Surrey
have signed me for l...", at which point the Tweet cuts off.
"While I'm naturally disappointed to have been omitted from
the England squad I fully understand the reasons why and will
be doing everything I can to get back into the England team,"
Pietersen said later in an ECB statement. "I have no issue
with the selectors omitting me from the limited overs squads
and my sole focus now is working on my game ahead of an
exciting winter."
Pietersen struggled for test runs against Pakistan in
bowler-friendly conditions this summer, scoring only one 50
in eight innings. He has not made a test century since March
last year.
The 30-year-old Pietersen will play the rest of the county
season with Surrey, with the ECB saying that it requested a
loan deal from Hampshire.
"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," national selector Geoff Miller said. "The remainder
of the county season is an ideal opportunity to do just that
and we thank Surrey for enabling Kevin the chance to play and
we thank both Surrey and Hampshire for facilitating the loan
period for the remainder of the county season.
"Kevin has proved on numerous occasions that he is a world
class player and we know he'll benefit from getting more time
in the middle to work on his batting and get his game back to
the level he has shown throughout his career."
The South African-born batsman, who emerged as a star for
England during the team's win over Australia in the 2005
Ashes series and has never been dropped by his country, said
last week he was currently nowhere near his best form.
Twenty20 Squad: Paul Collingwood (captain), James Anderson,
Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Steven Davies, Craig
Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke
Wright, Michael Yardy.
One-day Series: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson,
Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood,
Steven Davies, Eoin Morgan, Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebottom,
Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.
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