Kevin Pietersen, former England international and now specialist mentor, spoke to media at Headingley, the site of his famous press conference at which he declared it was hard to be him. Pietersen, 46, who lives in South Africa, discussed his new role in English cricket, his past with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board), and his work with Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum.
His official title is specialist mentor, and he will work with the white-ball teams ahead of the 50-over World Cup next autumn. Before the first ODI in Durham, England released a social media clip showing Pietersen leading a batting session. Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed participated in the batting drill, which focused on rotating the strike against spinners.
Pietersen highlighted how intimidating it is how good Harry Brook is and how good he can be. Ben Stokes recently commented by comparing Brook to Pietersen. Pietersen said he himself was also a maverick like Brook and has notes on his phone about how he played T20 cricket, one-day cricket and Test match cricket. He added that he could potentially help players get rid of the ugly.
Tom Banton said last week that he is still in awe of Pietersen and struggled to find the courage to speak with him. Pietersen is a four-time Ashes winner, and in 2014 he was dismissed by the ECB. He also had a short but high-profile relationship with American celebrity Caprice, married Liberty X pop star Jessica, and once tried to explain cricket to Taylor Swift on The Graham Norton Show.
Speaking about potential work with the Test team, Pietersen said he has spoken with new Test coach Stephen Fleming about how he can help Test batsmen. He stressed that he would not have time for a full role and has a fairly mad schedule, but is open to working with the Test team ahead of next summer's home Ashes series. He said he would not say no, but that does not necessarily mean he needs to be in the dressing room. He added that he has plenty of time before the Ashes series and the tour of South Africa when he will be with Test batsmen.
Pietersen concluded that he is not sitting here wanting to be England selector and is happy to have worn every shirt an England cricketer can wear – the good, the bad and the ugly. During commentary on England's white-ball tour of India last year, he suggested that McCullum's team did not train enough.
