Kevin Pietersen eyes place on New Zealand tour

 
p86 LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 22: Kevin Pietersen of England leaves the field after being bowled by Morne Morkel of South Africa during day four of the 1st Investec Test match between England and South Africa at The Kia Oval on July 22, 2012 in London, England.
Gareth Copley/Getty Images
21 September 2012

Kevin Pietersen has set his sights on a return to the England team for the tour of New Zealand early next year.

England’s most high-profile player has not played international cricket since he was dropped for the Third Test against South Africa at Lord’s in August after he sent derogatory texts about former captain Andrew Strauss during the Second Test at Headingley earlier that month.

Pietersen was then left out of the squad for the tour to India later this year but in a Twitter exchange with New Zealand rugby union star Dan Carter today, he tweeted: “Hoping all’s sorted and I’m on the NZ tour in Feb.”

New Test skipper Alastair Cook was guarded yesterday when asked about when Pietersen might return but his predecessor revealed that the South African-born batsman had apologised to him and that he would be happy to meet up with him. Strauss said: “We had a good chat and he apologised to me, which was great but what was said will remain between us. It was good that we spoke and got a few things out in the open.

“We’ve always been good friends. It was an awkward time this summer for all sorts of people but I will have no problems meeting up with Kevin and having a beer with him.

“We’ve been through a lot together and we’ve had huge shared experiences. Nothing changes in that respect.”

Strauss retired from all forms of cricket shortly after England were beaten in the South Africa series but he can expect several calls for advice from Cook, his close friend and successor.

Cook revealed the pair had already spoken and that he expected to be seeking Strauss’s counsel regularly during his time in charge. “He’s the best man to speak to and I’m sure that will remain the case over the coming weeks, months and years,” said Cook.

“I have a really good relationship with Straussy and we had a good chat about captaincy. I’m sure there will be times when I do pick up the phone to him. If I can lead like he did, then I will be very happy.”

On the issue of Pietersen, Cook expressed his hope that the Surrey star would return to the England squad in future.

The England captain said: “Clearly the issues haven’t been resolved and that’s why he hasn’t been made available for selection at the moment. Time, I hope, will be a healer and we will be able to move on.

“When the issue gets resolved — if the issue gets resolved — I hope he can come back and play for England. At the moment that cannot happen. It’s a sad circumstance.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT