Kevin Pietersen's
return to the England set-up is likely to be given a final stamp of
authority by the ECB with the upgrading of his four-month central
contract to a full, year-long one.
Pietersen, who was dropped from the squad during the Test series against
South Africa after a breakdown in relations with the dressing room, was
given a short-term contract
at the beginning of October, after England's exit from the World
Twenty20. That would run up until the end of January but Andy Flower,
England's team manager, indicated that Pietersen's "reintegration" had
gone smoothly and a new contract, covering home and away series against
New Zealand and the Ashes, will be a formality.
"The contract won't be a problem," Flower said. "Kevin has been
excellent in every way. We don't all always get on with people all of
the time - any of us in any walk of life - and everyone has made an
effort to make it work."
The temporary arrangement allowed Pietersen to be selected for England's tour of India, where they secured a first Test series win since 1985. Pietersen made a crucial century in the series-levelling win in Mumbai
and ended as England's second-highest run-scorer, and Flower was keen
to praise his efforts. "It's been really good fun and he should be very
proud of the way he's operated out here, both as an individual and as a
player," he said.
Pietersen, along with the majority of England's Test squad, has returned
home after being rested for the two-match T20 series with India, which
begins on Thursday. He will be part of the ODI squad flying back out to
India in January and is set to play his first one-day match in almost a
year, since scoring back-to-back hundreds in England's 4-0 whitewash of
Pakistan in the UAE.
Just a few months later, Pietersen announced his surprise retirement
from limited-overs international cricket, setting off a chain of events
that culminated in his exclusion from the England set-up but Flower
insisted the issues had been fully resolved.
"We did move on from it as soon as we had our meetings and everyone made
a commitment to do so," Flower said of the behind-the-scenes process to
smooth Pietersen's return to the squad. "I want to continue that,
moving forward. We want to learn from the past, but we don't want to
keep on revisiting it."
While Pietersen has been included for the five ODIs against India, James Anderson and Jonathan Trott have been rested,
in line with England's move towards a more flexible selection policy.
Pietersen's temporary retirement was in part down to a feeling that too
much was being demanded of England cricketers and the message appears to
have been heeded, and even extended to the management. The ODI series
will be Ashley Giles' first in charge of the limited-overs sides, with
Flower taking a more back-seat role.
"We want to make this new coaching structure work for English cricket
like we did the three captains," Flower said. "It's not gimmickry; we
want to make the most efficient use of our resources and our personnel. I
think we're lucky to have a coach of Ashley Giles' quality taking over
and we want some of his ideas and energy to assist in taking our
limited-overs sides up a notch or two. We believe he can do that."
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