Kevin Pietersen to Bid Farewell to English Cricket

Kevin Pietersen to Bid Farewell to English Cricket

Kevin Pietersen has decided to quit English cricket at the end of the season. The flamboyant batsman will turn up for Surrey in the upcoming NatWest T20 Blast, which will be his last competitive tournament in England.

The 36-year-old also announced that he won't be available for the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) as it comes at the end of his busy schedule. The reason for Pietersen's unavailability for both stints is that he's busy building a new home near Kruger National Park and wants to be more involved in wildlife conservation programmes.

"I reckon this will be my last season playing in England. Next year I am building a house and the whole of the English summer I will be at my house in South Africa so I will not be back in England," Pietersen said on Monday (June 19). "My conservation work is at the time when I should be playing here and that work is more important to me.

"I love Surrey. When they came to me with the offer of playing there instead of the Caribbean I was happy. Surrey have been so good to me. When I go back there training in a couple of weeks, it will be great. I can't wait," he added.

However, Pietersen will continue playing franchise cricket around the world. He still has a two-year contract with Big Bash team Melbourne Stars, which he intends to complete. The new South African franchise cricket, launched in London after the completion of the ICC Champions Trophy as Global T20 League, named Pietersen as one of the marquee foreign players.

"I am still playing some of the best cricket of my career," he said. "I am 36 and I am fitter than I even was when I was playing for England. As long as I am fit and enjoying batting I will play on."

Pietersen was also one of the first England players to take part in the IPL, but he's decided that he won't be available for the auction next year. He also opted out of the 2017 auction list, citing a busy winter as a reason for not entering.

"I'm done playing (in the IPL), but I can commentate," he continued. "The reason why I commentate is I go for one week, come home for two weeks, then I come back for a week and home for two weeks. When you're a player, you're there the whole time, you're everywhere. I can't do that."