England coach Andy Flower does not expect to see Kevin Pietersen playing in the World Twenty20
Pietersen announced his shock retirement from the shorter formats of international cricket, at the age of just 31, earlier this summer. He initially wanted to call time only on 50-over cricket and carry on in Twenty20, but the terms of ECB central contracts prevent players picking and choosing their formats.
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Earlier this week, Pietersen said he “would love to play for another three or four years in all forms of cricket” — but only if something could be “sorted out” about the “nightmare” schedule.
Kevin Pietersen
He also hinted that talks were ongoing with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) about the issue.
But with the preliminary World Twenty20 squad set to be announced soon, Flower does think there is any chance of Pietersen being in it.
“As things stand at the moment, no, there isn’t,” he told the Mail yesterday. “The situation is the same as it was when he first approached us. The ECB are determined to protect all three formats of the game and part of that is not setting a precedent of allowing players to retire from one-day cricket alone.”
Flower also expressed his sadness at Pietersen’s decision to opt out. “I think it’s sad for a player in his batting prime not to be playing all forms of international cricket, something that a lot of the guys work very hard for but are also very lucky to have the opportunity to do,” he said. “So I would hate for him to get to the end of his career and look back and think, ‘Oh damn, I wish I hadn’t missed the World T20 or the 2015 World Cup’.
“Maybe he won’t. Maybe he’s a very... well he is a very different person to me, so he might not think that way at all.” —u00a0
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