England batsman Kevin Pietersen has received clearance from Cricket South Africa to play for the KZN Dolphins in October. Pietersen will play two four-day games for the Dolphins as a warm-up for this winter’s Ashes.
He said playing at Kingsmead would provide him with ideal preparation for the upcoming Ashes series and provide him with an opportunity to regain his form.
“I’m keen to get as much cricket as I can under my belt,” said Pietersen. “I want to do that before a challenging and exciting winter.”
An article on the Dolphins Cricket website said: “Pietersen will play for the side between October 7 and 17 which means he’ll be able to play two four-day matches – against North West and Eastern Province.”
Pietersen’s form in recent times has been poor to say the least and there have also been question marks about his attitude and what he brings or does not bring to the team dressing room. The attacking minded right-hander has passed 50 for England just once this season, and the last of his 16 Test centuries was scored against West Indies in March 2009.
According to cricinfo.com Pietersen was dropped from England’s Twenty20 and one-day squads ahead of the current series against Pakistan. After his axing he accidentally posted an angry comment on Twitter and, though he apologised,was fined by the ECB for his outburst.
Pietersen told the BBC: “My sole focus is to continue playing a leading role for England and joining Natal is the perfect opportunity to prepare in excellent conditions immediately before the Ashes. These two matches would enable me to work on my game against the Kookaburra ball in southern hemisphere conditions which is the ideal preparation for Australia.”
The Pietermaritzburg-born batsman started his career with the Dolphins, making his first-class debut for them in 1997 before leaving to pursue his career in England. While his main role at the Dolphins was as a spin bowler, he rapidly developed into a world class attacking batsman England were happy to build their batting line-up around.
CAREER STATS
Test matches: 66
Test runs: 5306
Batting average: 47.8
Highest score: 226
Strike rate: 62.26
Hundreds: 16
Fifties: 20
First class runs: 11 685
Source: www.cricinfo.com