England’s top run scorer in history Kevin Pietersen expressed grief over the end of his international career on Wednesday by stating publicly on Twitter he will no longer play for England. He though further added that he was “incredibly overwhelmed” by the support he had received.
The 33-year-old’s days as an international cricketer abruptly ended on Tuesday evening when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it had “unanimously” decided to drop him from the national team.
With England scheduled to name their squads later this week for the upcoming tour of the West Indies and the World Twenty20 on Thursday, the ECB’s new managing director, Paul Downton, made it clear that Pietersen was no longer in his plans.
Pietersen today in the morning posted a picture on Instagram, a photo-sharing website, of himself leaving the field after his final Test match against Australia in Sydney during England‘s recent 5-0 Ashes defeat.
He further wrote: “So sad that this will now be the last time I leave a field in an England shirt.
“Incredibly overwhelmed by the support overnight! Thank you so much. I love England and I honestly hope they have every success in the future.”
Meanwhile, Pietersen’s wife, and British pop star Jessica Taylor, took to Twitter to and hammered former England fast bowler Dominic Cork’s claims that Pietersen had clashed with captain Alastair Cook during the Australia tour.
She wrote on micr-blogging website that: “Dominic Cork – there was no ‘squaring up’ to Alastair Cook or ‘off-field antics’ in Australia – you are lying, plain & simple.”
She further added: “Regurgitating rumour & spinning it as fact is not what I’d call responsible journalism. The public deserve so much better – the truth.”
Pietersen, with 13 797 runs to his name in international cricket, is currently England’s all-time leading scorer across all formats.
But, his outspoken personality and ego made him a polarising figure, among his peers, as per reports in British press. There are even mixed reviews from former England players in their reactions to the news of his sacking.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan, who is regarded as one of the sharpest Brians in contemporary cricekt, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that Pietersen’s sacking was “preposterous”, while former fast bowler Bob Willis said that he had “disrupted every single dressing room he’s been in”.
Former team-mate Matthew Hoggard, though, accepted that Pietersen was not the most popular member of the England camp, but he felt England management should have conjured a way to manage his talent.
On Tuesday, in a press statement released by ECB, Pietersen said that the end of his England career was something that he would “deeply regret”, but maintained that he would continue to play domestic cricket.
Pietersen’s exit is the latest chapter in the postmortem after the Ashes tour down under. Earlier, head coach Andy Flower has resigned. So as spinner Graeme Swann retired, and batsman Jonathan Trott had to leave the squad with a stress-related illness.
Here is Kevin Pietersen’s tweet:
So sad that this will now be the last time I leave a field in an England shirt… Incredibly… http://t.co/CiRjytYr0Q
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) February 5, 2014
