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Kevin Pietersen set for Surrey as Sunrisers release him from key IPL duties Kevin Pietersen set for Surrey as Sunrisers release him from key IPL duties
(about 3 hours later)
Kevin Pietersen is set to sign a county deal with Surrey in a bid to force himself back into the England set-up through sheer weight of runs, after confirming that he has been released from the bulk of his Indian Premier League commitments with Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kevin Pietersen has pledged to do “everything in his power” to force an England recall through an avalanche of runs in county cricket after being released from the bulk of his upcoming commitments with the Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 34-year-old has been in exile from international cricket for 13 months after having his central contract paid up by the England and Wales Cricket Board in the wake of the Ashes whitewash in Australia. The 34-year-old, who has been in exile from international cricket for 13 months after seeing his central contract paid up by the England and Wales Cricket Board in the wake of the Ashes whitewash in Australia, is now poised to sign a deal to play for Surrey in Division Two.
But emboldened by a suggestion, of sorts, from the incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves that any talk of an international return was moot unless he skipped the IPL and scored heavily in first-class cricket, Pietersen has moved to make it happen. Pietersen’s ears were initially pricked at the start of the month when the incoming ECB chairman, Colin Graves, insisted any talk of a return was moot unless he secured a domestic deal and scored heavily in first-class cricket. It appeared a softening of the official stance towards the four-times Ashes winner.
The right-hander is known to have spoken to Graves on the telephone and even arranged a meeting with the Yorkshireman next month to clarify the situation. But even before that scheduled face to face, Pietersen has been allowed to skip the group stages of the IPL, with a return to The Oval his likely destination. Graves has since spoken to Pietersen on the telephone and has granted him a meeting next month when he returns from a stint commentating at the World Cup. But even before that slated face-to-face, which is also likely to include the new ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, Pietersen has secured a release from the league stage of IPL and will now likely return to the Oval, where he played as a Twenty20 specialist last summer.
The only caveat for Pietersen is that, should the Sunrisers reach the IPL knockout stages in late May, he can be recalled by the franchise. This would clash with the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s, which starts on 21 May. Should the Sunrisers make the knockout stages of the IPL, which coincide with the first Test at Lord’s starting on 21 May, the franchise will recall him. Were England to pick him – something for which both the managing director, Paul Downton, and the national selector, James Whitaker, maintain there is zero appetite – they could in theory block that return. Neither man is secure in their job however, given the harrowing group stage exit from the World Cup and the general handling of the Pietersen affair.
Announcing the news just moments after the England captain Alastair Cook was dismissed for five while playing for MCC in Abu Dhabi, a statement from his management company read: “Sunrisers Hyderabad have agreed to release Kevin Pietersen for the entire first phase of the IPL 2015. Another whose position would surely become untenable is the Test captain Alastair Cook, whose mood will not have been improved by this latest news, coming just moments after he was dismissed for five while playing for MCC on day three of their season-opening fixture against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi – his second failure of the match.
“The agreement allows Pietersen to miss the Sunrisers’ entire league fixtures, but will see him recalled should the team reach the knockout stages of the competition [which commence on 19 May and finish with the final on 24 May]. Cook is privately furious at the talk of a Pietersen return – he has made those feeling known to Graves – while he is similarly hurt by the interpretation of his comments last week, when he suggested a lack of leadership at the World Cup, in his absence, contributed to the group stage exit. Graves, who flew home yesterday, wants Cook to focus his energy on next month’s three-Test tour to the Caribbean.
“The four-times Ashes winner, who is also England’s highest run scorer in all formats, will instead join a domestic county with the aim of earning a place in the England squad for the upcoming Ashes series. “I’m hugely grateful all the support and understanding I’ve received from everyone at the Sunrisers and the IPL,” said Pietersen, upon announcing his return to English cricket in a statement from his management company yesterday. “My focus is now very much on the upcoming season in England and I’m absolutely determined to score as many runs as possible.
Pietersen, who has 104 Test caps, said: “I’m hugely grateful all the support and understanding I’ve received from everyone at the Sunrisers and the IPL. My focus is now very much on the upcoming season in England and I’m absolutely determined to score as many runs as possible. “I’ve never made any secret of my overwhelming desire to once again represent England and I’m going to do everything in my power to earn a recall to the international set-up. To once again put on that England shirt would be a privilege and an honour, but now I have to focus on performing domestically and give myself the best possible chance of meriting selection.”
“I’ve never made any secret of my overwhelming desire to once again represent England and I’m going to do everything in my power to earn a recall to the international set-up. Harrison and Graves, who officially join forces at Lord’s in mid-May when the latter replaces the outgoing Giles Clarke at the ECB’s annual general meeting, are keen to make a fresh start for English cricket after a year of turmoil but privately maintain their focus is on a reordering of the game as a whole, with the Pietersen issue deemed very much secondary.
“To once again put on that England shirt would be a privilege and an honour, but now I have to focus on performing domestically and give myself the best possible chance of meriting selection.” Their strategy on the batsman remains unclear however, with the unfolding events since Graves’ BBC radio interview on 1 March seemingly benefiting no one were the prospect of Pietersen’s international return truly be a non-starter.