Kevin Pietersen is “buzzing” to be back with the England set-up, having joined the white-ball coaching staff for the series against Sri Lanka, according to interim head coach Marcus Trescothick.
Pietersen will serve as a specialist mentor through to the 2027 Cricket World Cup in Africa next year. He will link up with the squad this week ahead of England's first T20I against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, live on Your Site Cricket from 6pm, with the first ball at 6.30pm.
Trescothick and Pietersen were Ashes-winning team-mates during England's famous 2005 triumph, giving the former first-hand experience of the qualities and talents the latter can bring to the current team.
"He is buzzing about putting back on the England shirt or tracksuit, buzzing for the opportunity and it's really exciting," the England batting coach said of Pietersen.
"Having his presence around, and the knowledge he has about batting - he saw batting in a different light to many people - if we can tap into that and get that into our white-ball cricket, It's only going to benefit the team."
The appointment has raised a few eyebrows, coming 12 years after Pietersen was effectively sacked by the ECB in the wake of England's disastrous 5-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia. At the time, the ECB said he had become "disconnected" from the team and accused him of failing to support then-captain Sir Alastair Cook.
Pietersen had previously been dropped in 2012 after sending text messages to members of the South African team, while he resigned as captain after just five months in 2008 following a breakdown in his relationship with then head coach Peter Moores.
Since his retiring a player in 2018, Pietersen has, at times, also been an outspoken critic of the England setup, including when accusing the white-ball team of inadequate preparation on a tour of India last January after Brendon McCullum had just taken over as head coach, who he'll now be working under.
Having hammered India 4-0 in a T20 series earlier this summer, briefly leapfrogging them at the top of the world rankings, and won their last two ODI series against Sri Lanka and India, England's decision to hire Pietersen appears a risky move at a time when the team is enjoying a strong run of form.
"You can see the team moving in the right direction; we've had great results in the last sort of 18 months - in both formats," Trescothick said, before adding: "I think you're just adding a little more spark and a little bit more variety from a different coach's point of view.
"Kevin has seen white-ball cricket around the world for a long period of time, playing in all the big competitions, he's won a [T20] World Cup [in 2010], you're going to gain something extra.
"It's up to the coaching setup with Brendon to draw out the best from him.
"Management of different players, coaches and setups is is the great art, isn't it? If you get that right, then you get a lot of good things come from coaches and players alike."
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