Pietersen jokes about England coaching job

Kevin Pietersen joked on Twitter that he had applied for the England coaching job on Wednesday, a day after being sidelined by new director of cricket Andrew Strauss.

"Morning all, after a pretty bad day yesterday I've given it a lot of thought overnight," Pietersen wrote to his 2.56 million followers. "I'm applying for the coaching job! #StraussLogic"

Strauss revealed on Tuesday that Pietersen, 34, will not be selected for England in the immediate future, citing a "massive trust issue" between him and the South Africa-born batsman.

England are currently without a coach following the dismissal of Peter Moores last weekend.

Pietersen, England's leading all-time run-scorer across all formats, was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year following a 5-0 Ashes whitewash defeat in Australia.

But after new ECB chairman Colin Graves opened the door to a recall by suggesting that he could force his way back into the team by playing county cricket, Pietersen signed for his former team Surrey.

He completed an innings of 355 for Surrey on Monday, his maiden first-class triple century, only to be told later that day by his former team-mate Strauss that he was not part of England's plans.

In his column for the Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday, Pietersen wrote: "I am absolutely devastated that it looks like my hopes of an England recall have been brought to a close, especially given everything that has been said and asked of me.Kevin Pietersen joked on Twitter that he had applied for the England coaching job on Wednesday, a day after being sidelined by new director of cricket Andrew Strauss.

"They have used the word 'trust' to justify not selecting me, well, trust is a two-way thing. I couldn't believe just half an hour after I had my meeting, the result of it was on the internet and on the BBC airwaves.

"Now I certainly didn't tell anybody, so who did? They say they don't trust me, but how can anybody trust them?"

Pietersen also revealed that Strauss had offered him a role as an advisor on one-day cricket, which he rejected.

He is due to fly to India on Friday to join up with his Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Source: AFP