BATSMAN KEVIN Pietersen was dropped by England yesterday for the first time in his career and will move from Hampshire to Surrey on loan for the rest of the county season.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) omitted the 30-year-old right-hander from the squads for the Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan which start on Sunday and the five one-dayers that follow.
“Kevin Pietersen has been omitted from both squads as we feel that his game would be best served by getting as much cricket under his belt as possible before a long and challenging winter,” national selector Geoff Miller said.
“The remainder of the county season is an ideal opportunity to do just that. Kevin has proved on numerous occasions that he is a world-class player and we know he’ll benefit from getting more time in the middle to work on his batting and get his game back to the level he has shown throughout his career.” Pietersen, part of the Twenty20 World Cup-winning side this year and voted the player of that tournament, had earlier declared on Twitter that he was: “Done for rest of summer. Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too.”
Pietersen has passed 50 for England just once this season and the last of his 16 Test centuries was scored against West Indies in March, 2009.
