Kevin Pietersen has dismissed as "wholly untrue" comments made by Paul Downton, the managing director of England cricket, relating to the decision to end the batsman's international career.
Pietersen has reacted to an interview Downton gave to the BBC on Thursday by releasing a statement on his website strongly refuting Downton's version of events and clarifying his desire to seek a final settlement when it became clear he would not be picked again by England.
In the BBC interview, Downton said he had "never seen anyone as disinterested or distracted on a cricket field" as Pietersen had been during the Sydney Test and that, after talking to the management team and several of the senior players there was a "unanimous feeling" that the time had come to move on from the player. Downton said he "couldn't find one supporter" for Pietersen's retention.
Kevin Pietersen: His record tells the story. (Reuters)
But Pietersen has now responded in typically uninhibited style. Not only has he insisted that he retains a good relationship with most of the England squad involved in the Ashes - a claim that is generally supported by comments made by those team-mates in subsequent interviews - but he has issued a reminder of his international record that brought him more runs than any England player in history, a part in four Ashes-winning sides and a man of the tournament award in England's only global success: the World T20 title of 2010.
Pietersen has reacted to an interview Downton gave to the BBC on Thursday by releasing a statement on his website strongly refuting Downton's version of events and clarifying his desire to seek a final settlement when it became clear he would not be picked again by England.
In the BBC interview, Downton said he had "never seen anyone as disinterested or distracted on a cricket field" as Pietersen had been during the Sydney Test and that, after talking to the management team and several of the senior players there was a "unanimous feeling" that the time had come to move on from the player. Downton said he "couldn't find one supporter" for Pietersen's retention.
Kevin Pietersen: His record tells the story. (Reuters)
But Pietersen has now responded in typically uninhibited style. Not only has he insisted that he retains a good relationship with most of the England squad involved in the Ashes - a claim that is generally supported by comments made by those team-mates in subsequent interviews - but he has issued a reminder of his international record that brought him more runs than any England player in history, a part in four Ashes-winning sides and a man of the tournament award in England's only global success: the World T20 title of 2010.