England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said Tuesday that Kevin Pietersen was “not part of our plans for the summer”, saying there was a “massive trust issue” between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the controversial batsman.
However, Strauss stopped short of saying there was no way back into the international set-up for fellow former England captain Pietersen, adding: “He is not banned from the side but I can give him no guarantees for the future.”
Pietersen, 34, England’s leading all-time run-scorer across all formats, was sent into international exile last year following the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.
But the South Africa-born batsman was given hope of an international recall when new ECB chairman Colin Graves said there could be a way back if he scored enough runs in county cricket.
Yet just hours after he made his maiden first-class triple century for Surrey on Monday, Pietersen was told there was no prospect of him being selected by England in the immediate future.
As England captain, Strauss infamously had his own issues of “trust” with Pietersen in 2012 when the star batsman sent “provocative” texts critical of his skipper to opposition South Africa players.
It was a theme the former opening batsman returned to on Tuesday when, in his first press conference since being appointed to the director role after the ECB sacked former managing director Paul Downton, Strauss said: “I think the first thing to say is that now is the time for honest conversation about Kevin Pietersen.
“No one is doubting his ability. His record stacks up and he should be proud of that,” added Strauss, with Pietersen’s tally of 23 Test hundreds just shy of the England record of 26 held by current captain Alastair Cook.
