Newly appointed ECB Director Andrew Strauss has made it clear that Kevin Pietersen is not a part of their plans for the Ashes, which is scheduled to begin on July 8.
Yesterday, some top reporters across England said that Strauss met KP and told him that he won’t be a part of the international side in the near future and today during a press conference, Strauss confirmed the news citing a “massive trust issue” between himself and the swashbuckling batsman.
He said:
“He [Pietersen] been phenomenal for England over a long period of time and he should be very proud of that record. But over a period of months and years, the trust between himself and the ECB has eroded. There’s a massive trust issue between Kevin and I. Because of that, we’ve told him it’s not in the best short-term interests of the side for him to be in the team.
“I’ve let him know he’s not part of our plans for the future, and I can’t give him any guarantees beyond that, but he’s not banned from the side, no one knows what’s going to happen in the future.”
Regarding England’s new coach, Strauss said that Australian Jason Gillespie (who was earlier tipped to be the hot favourite for the job) is one of the candidates to replace Peter Moores and they would be looking at other candidates over the next few days.
Meanwhile, Strauss confirmed that Joe Root will be Alastair Cook’s deputy in Tests while Eoin Morgan will continue to lead the ODI and T20 side.