page_title: Kevin Pietersen
section_title: Career in 2013–14
hierarchical_section_title: Kevin Pietersen / International career / Career in 2013–14
caption_attribution_description: England batsman Kevin Pietersen plays at shot on the morning of the 3rd day of the 1st Test of the 2013 England v Australia Ashes series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
context_page_description: Kevin Peter Pietersen MBE is a cricket commentator and former England international player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England between 2005 and 2014.
  Pietersen was born to an Afrikaner father and English mother in South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 and moved to England in 2000, after voicing his displeasure at what he said was the racial quota system in South African cricket. Being of English ancestry, Pietersen was eligible for the England team so long as he first served a four-year qualifying period in English county cricket. He was called up by England almost immediately after he completed four years with Nottinghamshire. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia.
  Pietersen left Nottinghamshire for Hampshire in 2005, but the England team's subsequent reliance on him resulted in Pietersen making only a single first-class appearance for his new county between 2005 and 2010.
context_section_description: Pietersen featured in the three-Test series in New Zealand in February 2013, scoring 73 in the second match. A knee injury forced him to miss the return home series in May that year, however, and prompted fears over fitness for the upcoming 2013 Ashes series. Though he did not play against New Zealand, the ECB remained hopeful over his ability to play against Australia come the summer. On 3 August 2013, Pietersen not only scored a century in the third Ashes series match in the first innings, he became the highest run scorer for England across all forms of cricket combined.
  His return Ashes tour over the winter of 2013–14 was less successful, however. In a series which England lost 5–0, Pietersen averaged only 29 and passed fifty only twice in ten innings. He made his 100th Test appearance in the first Test. During this game Pietersen was dismissed by a widely reported catch taken by Chris Sabburg, who entered the field as a substitute fielder. He remained nevertheless England's leading run scorer with 294 runs. He also bowled during the fifth and final Test. Once the tour had ended, and the fallout had contributed to the removal of Flower as head coach, there was much media speculation on the nature of Pietersen's relationship with the team management. The ECB met and announced on 4 February 2014 that Pietersen had not been selected for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean, a decision they described as "unanimous". Media announcements immediately began stating that Pietersen's career was over. Pietersen himself released a statement which read "Although I am obviously very sad the incredible journey has come to an end, I'm also hugely proud of what we, as a team, have achieved over the past nine years."
caption: Pietersen batting during the 2013 Ashes
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