England remain coy over Pietersen axe
England national selector refused to reveal why Kevin Pietersen has been axed, citing legal reasons.
LONDON (AFP) - England national selector James Whitaker refused to reveal on Thursday why Kevin Pietersen s international career had been cut short, citing legal reasons.
Whitaker, in his first public appearance since replacing Geoff Miller as England s selection supremo, was the first member of the England and Wales Cricket Board hierarchy to comment since a carefully-worded statement issued Tuesday signalled the end of star batsman Pietersen s time in the international game.
The intervening 48 hours had seen the ECB widely criticised by the likes of England great Ian Botham for failing to provide a specific reason as to why Pietersen, England s leading run scorer across all international formats, had been jettisoned.
That left a statement which spoke of a need "to rebuild not only the team but also the team ethic and philosophy" after England s 5-0 Ashes series thrashing in Australia.
Whitaker, asked about Pietersen s England exile, told Sky Sports: "That is a legal position and at the moment I m not at liberty to say."
Whitaker s mobile phone then appeared to ring and the interview was briefly halted.
But when it resumed, he added: "Unfortunately I m not in a position to reiterate what reasons there have been."
Thursday saw Whitaker announce England s first post-Pietersen squads for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh and the preceding limited overs series in the West Indies.
"The one-day international team and the England Twenty20 team has played a number of matches over the last 12 months or so without Kevin and, on occasion, performed very well, and I would hope that s the case going forward," said former batsman Whitaker, a one Test wonder against Australia in 1986.
"It s still a surprise going to an ICC competition without one of your leading run-scorers but the players and management are well rehearsed in coping without him.
"What I can say is this is a group of players who can look forward to re-energising the team going forward with different values, (to) re-evaluate the culture of the team.
"England, over the last four or five years, have shown these good values.
"Over time they can dissipate a little but now is a good time to rewrite those values."
Uncapped duo Moeen Ali and Stephen Parry were included in a 15-man group for both events, while fellow newcomer Harry Gurney will head to the West Indies.
The only time England have won a major limited overs international trophy was when, with Pietersen playing a leading role, they triumphed at the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.
