ENGLAND signalled their intention to give Kevin Pietersen a Test debut at the earliest opportunity yesterday when they pulled the man of the moment out of the A tour to Sri Lanka. Pietersen has been replaced in the squad by Alastair Cook, the 20-year-old opening batsman from Essex.
The party is scheduled to depart for Dubai a week today before a tough programme in Colombo, comprising two four-day matches against Sri Lanka A and a triangular one-day series also involving Pakistan A. Pietersen will now rest a slight hamstring injury before joining Hampshire, his new county, for pre-season training.
England clearly want to keep the player fresh after scoring 454 runs at an average of 151.33 in the recent one-day matches against South Africa. He seems certain to be chosen for the Test series against Bangladesh, which starts on May 26, and against Australia in the second part of the summer.
Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has hinted that Pietersen will feature in the middle order. With the logical step being to slot him between Michael Vaughan and Graham Thorpe at No 4, that is bad news for Mark Butcher, Robert Key and Ian Bell, who were probably all ahead in the pecking order until a fortnight ago.
Pietersen may be further rewarded with a six-month central contract, if there is a request from the selectors, and the International Teams Management Group is convinced that he has a significant role to play in both formats. His third hundred, at Centurion on Sunday, may have swung the balance because of the patience he showed in the early stages when England were struggling.
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The only reason for Pietersen to fulfil his obligation as part of the A squad was to gain experience on the sub-continent for England’s visit to Pakistan and India in 2005-06. However, he has already demonstrated his competence in these conditions, with four hundreds for the A team in India last winter.
Cook, in Bombay for a two-week training camp at the World Cricket Academy, is an orthodox, well-organised player who spent the first part of the close season at the National Academy in Loughborough, before playing grade cricket in Perth, Australia.
Worcestershire have signed Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lanka bowler, on a two-month contract for the start of the 2005 season. The 31-year-old left-arm fast bowler has taken 269 Test wickets since making his debut in 1994. His signing is subject to official clearance from Sri Lankan Cricket.
Simon Katich, 29, top scorer for Hampshire in all four competitions in 2003, will be their second overseas player next season. If required by Australia for the NatWest Series, he will leave at the end of May. If he is selected only in the Test party, he will leave after July 11 with Shane Warne, the Hampshire captain. They will both be available for the last two Frizzell County Championship matches and last two totesport league games of the season.
Shoaib Akhtar will appear before a Pakistan Cricket Board disciplinary committee tomorrow, two days before the squad to tour India is selected. Shoaib has been charged with breaching his contract by visiting nightclubs while on tour in Australia at the start of the year, giving press statements without permission and delaying his return to Pakistan despite suffering a hamstring injury.
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Matthew Hayden has been cleared to tour New Zealand after a medical examination found that he was over the worst of a lung infection.
The devastation wrought by the tsunami across southern Asia has claimed the picturesque Galle stadium as an international venue. “We will not be able to have the international safety standards that are required because of the restrictions on new constructions,” Thilanga Sumathipala, a special envoy of Sri Lankan Cricket, said. Officials are looking for another location near Galle.