Pietersen withdrawn from England A tour

Following his phenomenal display in the one-day series in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen has been withdrawn from England A's forthcoming tour of UAE and Sri Lanka. His place has instead gone to the Essex opener and England Under-19 captain, Alistair Cook.

Pietersen had not been an original choice for the South Africa one-dayers, but was called into the squad following the withdrawal of Andrew Flintoff, who flew home after the Test series for an operation on his ankle. His response was a haul of three hundreds and a 75 in six innings, for a series total of 454 runs at 151.33.

As a consequence, he has shot straight into the reckoning for the Ashes, and with that in mind - plus a slight concern about a hamstring injury that he sustained towards the end of the series - he has been allowed to put his feet up until the beginning of the English season.

"We believe that this decision is in Kevin's and England's best interests," said David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors. "He will now undertake pre-season training with his new county, Hampshire. This break will also ensure that he is able to fully recover from a minor hamstring strain before playing further competitive cricket.

"He will be replaced in the tour party by Alistair Cook and this will give Alistair valuable experience against high quality opposition in the sub-continent."