Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff wouldn’t be surprised if Pietersen finished with international cricket after the Ashes.
England legend and former teammate of Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, has expressed his belief that Pietersen may quit international cricket after the back-to-back Ashes series’ in 2013.
The batsman is currently on the sidelines with a knee injury and will not feature in England’s series against New Zealand in May.
Whilst Flintoff isn’t concerned about whether Pietersen will be fit for the first Ashes series starting in July, he thinks 2014 could be the year the South African-born player retires from the Three Lions.
“I wouldn’t read too much into his not playing New Zealand, Kevin will be ready [for the Ashes],” the former Lancashire man told Sky Sports.
“But I would be quite interested to see if Kevin plays Test cricket after that.
“I’ve got a sneaking suspicion he’ll be looking at those 10 Tests and then consider his future.”
Both Flintoff and Pietersen were part of England’s historic Ashes victory against the Australians in 2005, resulting in the two cricketers earning a reputation as world-class stars.
Since then both have had unsuccessful spells as captain of the national side, before the all-rounder retired from the sport in 2010.
Pietersen has had a controversial time in the England side in recent times, coupling some startling performances with the bat with exile from the team for sending derogatory texts about Three Lions players to South African cricketers.
The 32-year-old is perhaps coming towards the latter end of his career, although playing stalwarts such as Rahul Dravid at 40 and Adam Gilchrist at 41 prove that there can still be life in old dogs.
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