Pietersen ruled out of Ashes
England’s hopes of winning back the Ashes were dealt a serious blow
on Wednesday when their leading batsman Kevin Pietersen was ruled out of
the rest of the series.
The 29-year-old right-hander had surgery on the Achilles tendon
injury which hampered him during the second test and he has been ruled
out of all cricket for six weeks.
|
Kevin Pietersen |
“Following a consultation, involving scans and testing, with the
world’s leading Achilles specialist Kevin Pietersen today underwent
surgery on his right Achilles tendon,” the England and Wales Cricket
Board’s chief medical officer Nick Peirce said in a statement.
“Kevin will look to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation
programme to ensure there is no risk of recurrence. This is expected to
be approximately six weeks.” Pietersen averages 49.96 in tests and his
absence will make it harder for England to win the five-match series
they lead 1-0 following their dramatic 115-run victory over Australia at
Lord’s on Monday.
Ian Bell will be favourite to replace Pietersen in the team for next
week’s third test at Edgbaston.
“As an England cricketer the Ashes are the pinnacle of the game so
I’m absolutely devastated to be missing the rest of this series,”
Pietersen said. LONDON, Reuters
Kevin Peter Pietersen
Born: June 27, 1980 at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style: Right-hand
Bowling style: Right-arm off break
Role: captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore,
middle order batsman, occasional off spinner
National side: England
Test debut: July 21 2005 v Australia
ODI debut: November 28 2004 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI
Matches 53 92
Runs scored 4,571 3,127
Batting average 50.23 46.67
100s/50s 16/15 7/20
Top score 226 116
Balls bowled 735 214
Wickets 4 5
Bowling average 129.50 40.20
Best bowling 1/0 2/22
Catches 31 32
|
