Kevin Pietersen jokes about England coaching job

Pietersen was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year following a 5-0 Ashes whitewash defeat in Australia. (Source: AP)

Kevin Pietersen joked on Twitter that he had applied for the England coaching job on Wednesday, a day after being sidelined by new director of cricket Andrew Strauss.

Morning all, after a pretty bad day yesterday I’ve given it a lot of thought overnight. I’m applying for the coaching job! #StraussLogic 😂

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) May 13, 2015

Strauss revealed on Tuesday that Pietersen, 34, will not be selected for England in the immediate future, citing a “massive trust issue” between him and the South Africa-born batsman.

England are currently without a coach following the dismissal of Peter Moores last weekend.

Pietersen, England’s leading all-time run-scorer across all formats, was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year following a 5-0 Ashes whitewash defeat in Australia.

But after new ECB chairman Colin Graves opened the door to a recall by suggesting that he could force his way back into the team by playing county cricket, Pietersen signed for his former team Surrey.

He completed an innings of 355 not out for Surrey against Leicestershire on Monday, his maiden first-class triple century, only to be told later that day by Strauss that he was not part of England’s plans.

In his column for the Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday, Pietersen wrote: “I am absolutely devastated that it looks like my hopes of an England recall have been brought to a close, especially given everything that has been said and asked of me.

“They have used the word ‘trust’ to justify not selecting me, well, trust is a two-way thing. I couldn’t believe just half an hour after I had my meeting, the result of it was on the internet and on the BBC airwaves.

“Now I certainly didn’t tell anybody, so who did? They say they don’t trust me, but how can anybody trust them?”

Pietersen also revealed that Strauss, his former England team-mate, had offered him a role as an advisor on ODI cricket, which he rejected.

The batsman missed the start of the final day of Surrey’s County Championship match against Leicestershire on Wednesday in order to have a scan on a calf injury, but a Surrey spokesperson said it was only precautionary.

Pietersen is due to fly to India on Friday to join up with his Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Source:: Indian Express