Kevin Pietersen has been omitted from the England squad for the final Test against South Africa at Lord's, the morning after releasing a video where he committed himself to all international cricket, because he has failed to confirm that he did not send derogatory texts about Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower to South Africa players.
The squad announcement had been delayed by five hours following the release of the video by Pietersen on Saturday evening, where he came out of ODI retirement and said he would not play a full IPL, following a week where he has dominated the agenda in the wake of his press conference on Monday after the Headingley Test had finished.
In the nine-minute video he claimed that dressing-room issues, which had come to a head over the last week, had been sorted out after a phone call with one team-mate and that he 'loved' playing for England. But it is understood that the ECB were not aware that he was going to release the video.
However, the key issue for the management remained the text messages and the delay in naming the squad was to allow Pietersen to provide clarity to them which he has failed to do. Jonny Bairstow, the Yorkshire batsman, who played against West Indies has been recalled.
Managing director of England Cricket, Hugh Morris, said: "During the past week we have held several discussions with Kevin Pietersen and his advisors. Following a constructive meeting it was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room.
"A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team. This has not been forthcoming despite clear timelines being set to allow the Selectors to pick the squad for the third Investec Test match. We provided an additional six hours this morning to provide every opportunity for agreement to be reached but regrettably this has not been possible.
"The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust. Whilst we have made every attempt to find a solution to enable Kevin to be selected we have sadly had to conclude that, in the best interest of the team, he will miss the Lord's Test."
National selector, Geoff Miller, added: "We need a squad fully focussed on this Test match to be able to play the sort of cricket we know is necessary if we are to win this week and level the series. "
Squad Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, James Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Graham Onions
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