(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kevin Pietersen again indicated he'd been misled about the possibility of an international comeback when he said Saturday he had been offered a "clean slate" by incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves. Andrew Strauss, the new ECB director of cricket and Pietersen's successor as England captain, said Tuesday that a "massive trust issue" prevented the South Africa-born batsman's return, even though Pietersen is England's all-time leading run-scorer across all formats. That appeared to contradict earlier comments from Graves that a return was possible if Pietersen, sent into international exile 15 months ago after England's 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia, scored enough runs in county cricket. Pietersen said two private conversations he had with Graves before the former Yorkshire chairman took up the equivalent ECB post reinforced that view.
The 34-year-old Pietersen's anger intensified as he was told by Strauss he would not be considered by England for the upcoming home Tests against New Zealand and Australia this season shortly after scoring his maiden first-class triple century, during Surrey's County Championship match against Leicestershire at The Oval. Graves said Friday he "didn't make any promises" but appeared to be defending himself from a charge no one, including Pietersen, had made. Pietersen's argument was not that he'd been "promised" anything, but rather that if he met certain conditions he would at least be considered for England selection. And on Saturday, in response to a comment on Twitter, Pietersen said: "Exactly - no one is guaranteed selection. I was told there was a CLEAN SLATE.
I wanted to earn my place back." Strauss's first week in his new role has seen him having to justify both his decision to sack former England coach Peter Moores and Pietersen's ongoing omission. Graves only took up his post on Friday and felt obliged to defend his reputation after Pietersen accused the ECB of being "incredibly deceitful". "I didn't make any promises," said Graves. "There were no guarantees that if he chose to exit his IPL (Indian Premier League) contract, play county cricket and score runs he would be selected for England - and I said he should make any decision on his future on that basis."
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Tickets went on sale in Pakistan Saturday for next week's cricket series against Zimbabwe, days after a major militant attack put the visit - the first by a Test playing nation in six years - in doubt. Zimbabwe confirmed Friday that it will go ahead with the tour, including two Twenty20 and three one-day internationals, despite an attack on a Karachi bus on Wednesday that left 45 people dead. Cricket authorities in the African nation had released a statement on Thursday saying the tour would not go ahead due to the "security risk", but quickly apologised.
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A policeman has been left blind in one eye after being struck by six hit by South African David Miller in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, local media reported on Saturday. Aloke Aich, 53, was struck in the right eye in the game between Kolkata and Punjab at Eden Gardens on May 9. "I am still in a state of shock and deeply saddened to hear about the loss of Mr Aich's eye. A freak accident! My prayers are with u," a shocked Miller tweeted on Friday.
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