Kevin Pietersen to Retire from all Cricket Formats

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket within a year. Pietersen spoke to the media after the Melbourne Stars lost their fourth straight game of the Big Bash League. With his contract ending this season, he was asked if he would return to the club next summer. But the 37-year old said that enough was enough. Pietersen said he made the decision recently.

He said,”I think everybody knows that you come to the end of your time and stuff so for me you get to that time in your career where you just think, ‘Do I want this?’ I want it desperately at the moment, but I don’t think I’ll want it in 10 months’ time.”

Pietersen also mentioned that his retirement won’t be immediate. He would play the forthcoming Pakistan Super League and the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa next summer. He suffered an ankle injury in the loss to the Renegades but assured that it was not serious. KP was hopeful of playing against Adelaide on Tuesday night.

Pietersen was an Ashes hero and arguably his country’s best batsman in a decade. The South African born player was also England’s fifth highest Test run scorer (8181 runs). His last appearance internationally was in the Ashes whitewash four years ago. After the dreadful series, he was cut loose by national selectors.

He had a fairly controversial international career, featuring several notable falling outs with key England personnel. He also enjoyed a brief stint as England captain. Since calling time on his international career, Pietersen has become a T20 freelancer. He played in various leagues around the world, including with the Stars.

However, this won’t be the last we see of KP, He said he would consider continuing commentary. He enjoyed the work and he would “love to” continue in some form with the Stars. The 37-year old said, “This franchise has been so good for me at the end of my career. I’ve loved every single day that I’ve been in Melbourne.”

Although the side has not exactly tasted victory, Pietersen is positive about the Stars’ prospects of turning things around. He continued, “I’ve been in the darkest of times in my career, and I’ve never, ever, ever not committed to trying to win.”