London, September 02: Kevin Pietersen on Wednesday apologised to England’s selectors before claiming that he understands why he was omitted from the squad.
Pietersen was dropped on Tuesday for the two Twenty20 and five ODI matches after a poor run of form with the bat which has seen him fail to pass 100 in almost two years.
The 30-year-old caused controversy when he accidentally posted a foul-mouthed outburst on micro-blogging site Twitter following the decision, slamming the selectors for dropping him for the series.
The controversial tweet read: “Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too.. Its [sic] a f*** up!!”
The former Nottinghamshire batsman, who has struggled for form on home soil this summer, will now spend the rest of the season on loan at Surrey, where he hopes to regain his form and convince the selectors that he deserves a place in Andrew Strauss’ starting XI for the Ashes.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan was one of a few senior figures within the game who condemned the batsman, describing the tweet as “totally wrong”.
Pietersen admitted this afternoon that he had published the outburst accidentally and apologised for the blunder.
“It came out in the way that I didn’t want it to come out,” Pietersen told Surrey TV.
“It was something that wasn’t meant for the public domain and I apologise for it entering the public domain and I also want to apologise for the language I used.
“It wasn’t anything against the England selectors or the England set-up.
2I was pretty upset about my own form and frustrated about it too.
“I have spoken to the coach (Andy Flower) T20 captain (Paul Collingwood) chair of selectors (Miller) and the managing director of English cricket (Hugh Morris) and they all totally understand so it’s onwards and upwards from now and I’m looking forward to the next two weeks here.”
A dazzling performance in England’s victorious ICC World Twenty20 campaign aside, Pietersen has toiled with the bat this summer with an unconvincing 80 in the second Test against Pakistan being his only notable score.
The ECB brokered a deal yesterday that will see Pietersen play at the Oval for the remaining two weeks of the county season at no cost to the London club, whose base is two miles away from the batsman’s Chelsea home.
Strauss will now be hoping that Pietersen will be able to re-discover the type of form which he displayed when he broke onto the scene with a series of enterprising performances in his native South Africa in 2005.
Pietersen, meanwhile, says that he understands the selectors’ decision to drop him.
“It’s understandable that the selectors would like me to play some four-day games because the only first class cricket I have played since my Achilles injury has been in Test matches and it’s pretty difficult to play Test matches if you are not at the top of your game,” added Pietersen, whose last 12 months have also been hampered by thigh and Achilles injuries.
“Any opportunity to spend some time in the middle is opportunity that I had to grab with both hands so I’m looking forward to it.”
National selector Miller held talks with Pietersen on Wednesday and admitted that he wants to draw a line under the matter.
“I’ve had a chat with Kevin. He explained the situation. I’m not too au fait with Twitter, but he explained what had happened and an apology was forthcoming,” Miller told Sky Sports News.
“As far as I’m concerned, the matter is now closed. There are certain things I did not enjoy and I let him know those and now we will move on.”
Meanwhile, Pietersen was made to endure a torrid debut for Surrey against Worcestershire in tonight’s day-night Clydesdale 40 match at the Oval.
Pietersen came on to bowl in the 30th over and was ruthlessly dispatched for 16 in the six balls he bowled, with Gareth Andrew hammering the Surrey new boy over the long off boundary for two consecutive sixes.
Worcester made 376 for six from their 40 overs, with Pietersen due to bat in the reply.
——Agencies