Kevin Pietersen dropped from Test squad

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been dropped from the Test team for the 3rd Test against South Africa in Lord's. The text messages Pietersen sent to South African players are the cause for his exclusion from the team. Promising youngster, Jonny Bairstow has been named as his replacement. 

The England Cricket Board(ECB) had given the middle order batsman a chance to explain himself but heard nothing from him. KP wouldn't or couldn't prove that the texts sent to SA weren't derogatory even after the ECB had given him a further 6 hours this morning. 

Hugh Morris, Managing Director - England Cricket, said that KP was given enough time to explain himself and that the selectors were left with no choice but to drop him in the best interests of the team. 

"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," he said. 

"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. We provided an additional six hours this morning to provide every opportunity for agreement to be reached but regrettably this has not been possible," he continued. 

"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. 

"The second Investec Test was a marked improvement on our performance at the start of the series but we are aware we will need to play some very good cricket this week if we are to level this series. 

"While there were positives to take from a number of areas at Headingley Carnegie we know we will need to show further improvement if we are win at Lord's. There is plenty of international experience amongst this squad and they will all be determined to play to their full potential this week," he concluded. 

South Africa lead the 3 match series 1-0 and the final match will be played at the Lord's Cricket Ground on Thursday. 

Team for 3rd Test: Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, James Taylor, Jonathan Trott.