Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has slammed Andrew Strauss’s decision to maintain Kevin Pietersen’s international exile, saying it has made English cricket a “laughing stock”.
Strauss, one of several England captains whose time as skipper came to an end after a series against a Proteas side led by Smith, has recently been installed as England’s director of cricket.
On Tuesday, Strauss said Pietersen would remain in the international wilderness, with the South Africa-born batsman exiled from the England squad ever since the team returned from a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia last year.
Strauss, whose final months as England captain were clouded by “provocative” texts sent by Pietersen to Proteas players, said a “massive trust issue” lay at the heart of his decision.
Pietersen, 34, had been given hope of a Test return when new England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves said he would be considered if he made enough runs in county cricket.
But just hours after he scored a maiden triple century for Surrey on Monday, Strauss met with Pietersen to tell him to forget about playing for England this season.
Yet Tuesday also saw Strauss announce that he’d offered Pietersen a role as an advisor to the one-day side which the star batsman had turned down.
“I see the head boy is making English cricket the laughing stock again! #StraussLogic”, tweeted Smith.
Former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff, who played in the same 2005 Ashes-winning side as Pietersen, said players became more mature as they got older.
“I have no agenda in this,” Flintoff tweeted. “I thought if @KP24 (Pietersen) was to play again he should fight his way back in which he has, as for personality he can be high maintenance then again so was I, but you do grow up and change.
“I wish I had the chance to play in my mid 30’s reckon I’d have been better!,” added Flintoff, whose international career was cut short by injury.
Meanwhile, a furious Pietersen says he is “devastated” by Strauss’s decision to exile him from the national team this season.
Strauss, in his first press conference since being appointed to the director role after the ECB sacked Paul Downton, stopped short on Tuesday of saying there was no way back into the international set-up for Pietersen, adding: “He is not banned from the side but I can give him no guarantees for the future.”
“I am absolutely devastated that it looks like my hopes of an England recall have been brought to a close, especially given everything that has been said and asked of me,” Pietersen reacted in an incendiary column for England’s The Daily Telegraph.
“They have used the word trust to justify not selecting me, well, trust is a two-way thing. I couldn’t believe just half an hour after I had my meeting, the result of it was on the internet and on the BBC airwaves.
“Now I certainly didn’t tell anybody, so who did? They say they don’t trust me but how can anybody trust them?”
It means Pietersen has been ruled out of the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand, which starts next week, and the ensuing Ashes campaign as well as England’s home limited-overs internationals in 2015.
“I have never hidden my determination to once again represent England and having played one of the best innings of my career earlier in the day, I must admit I was riding the crest of a wave,” Pietersen said after earlier finishing on an unbeaten 355 before Surrey lost their last wicket in a total of 557 against Leicestershire in a Second Division County Championship match at The Oval.
“I went into the meeting expecting Strauss to say that England’s batting order is good at the moment but if I continued to score runs and if an injury occurred then I would be in contention to play.
“I would naturally have to earn my recall, but at least I would be eligible. But no. Quite simply, I feel deeply misled.”
The batsman said he would be heading back to India on Friday to join up with his IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“It’ll give me a good opportunity to cool down and assess what I’m going to do next. I’m just sorry it won’t be putting on an England shirt,” Pietersen said.
