Kevin Pietersen again indicated he had been misled about the possibility of an international comeback when he said on 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 that a “massive trust issue” prevented the South Africa-born batsman’s return, even though Pietersen is England’s all-time leading run-scorer. That appeared to contradict earlier comments from Graves that a return was possible if Pietersen, sent into international exile 15 months, scored enough runs in county cricket.