Pietersen given a glimmer of hope

Kevin Pietersen says he's 'pleasantly surprised' by the comments made by incoming English and Wales Cricket Board chairman, Colin Graves, who has refused to rule out a return for the exiled batsman.

Pietersen, who was sacked by the ECB following England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 2014, now has a glimmer of hope of making an international comeback, but it’s conditional.

"The first thing he's got to do if he wants to get back is play county cricket for somebody," Graves told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek.

An ECB spokesman later clarified Graves's comments further, saying: "Colin Graves is correct. Nothing has changed - only players who are playing consistent high-quality county cricket and who are seen as a positive influence will be selected for England."

Pietersen has parted ways with county club Surrey, and now plies his trade as a T20 gun for hire around the world, last seen for Melbourne Stars in the KFC T20 Big Bash League this summer.

Speaking to Sky Sports UK, Pietersen said he’ll need some time to make a decision on his playing future but feels at 34 he still has what it takes to perform at the highest level, just as two Sri Lankan greats have proven in the current Cricket World Cup.

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"The previous chat was clearly that I had been banned from playing for England, that I’d never play cricket for England again, which for me was incredibly sad because I do feel that my England career was cut short and taken away from me at 33," Pietersen said.

"You have a look at the guys like (Kumar) Sangakkara, (Tillekeratne) Dilshan, all these guys scoring runs late on in their 30s that doesn’t mean that someone still can’t perform at the best of their abilities in their late 30s.

"It’s come as a pleasant surprise but one that I’ll need to have a think through.

"I’ll definitely want to speak to the ECB.

"Let’s just be clear - I’d love to play for England again.

"If it's genuine, which I’m sure it is, seeing as it’s pretty public ... Goodness, I would love to be given that opportunity again.

"I will need to go away and make some decisions; I need to speak to a few people.

"Clearly (I've) spent a lot of time with a lot of people who have helped me make a lot of decisions in my career.

"I've spoken to a couple this morning already.

"So I'll have to go away now and see where my future lies. But it’s really, really encouraging."

Pietersen was recently sold for $AUD413,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, and his IPL deal would make the county cricket return Graves suggested he needs to tick off an unrealistic proposition.

The South African-born batsman admitted it was too soon for him to entertain the notion of giving up the IPL to try to play county cricket this year, however he made it clear playing for England would be his priority.

"This is about me playing cricket for England, doing something that I love," he said.

"The money, for me, is not something I’m interested in. I haven't been interested in money for a long time.

"It's a decision that would be purely on the basis on 'do I want to play cricket for England? Is this is a genuine situation if I score runs for potentially Surrey, play for England again', well it's a decision like that I’m going to have to make this week.

"This is not about money. I have no interest in money. I live very happily."

Graves's words are the first sign of encouragement from England for Pietersen since the controversial batsman released his explosive autobiography last October which slammed many of his past colleagues, in particular former coach Andy Flower and wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

"I had a bit of a personality clash with a previous coach," Pietersen said on his relationship with the English dressing room and former coach Flower.

"I think he's no longer the coach of England.

"If you go into the bits and pieces I said throughout the last 12 months I just had to make a case there was another side to a story.

"I think that’s been perfectly made."

But Graves says the final decision on Pietersen's future would not sit with him, leaving that call up to the England backroom staff.

"It's down to the selectors, down to the coaches, of what they see, what is best for English cricket," Graves said.

"They will make the decisions and I will support them when it comes to that decision."

If national selector James Whitaker’s comments in December on England's most prolific batsman are anything to go by, the world will not see Pietersen in an English uniform again.

"The ECB management made this decision in January and it is the same decision now,” Whitaker said in December last year while Pietersen was playing for the Stars in BBL|04.

"There is no way that Kevin Pietersen will ever get back into an England team."

When Ricky Ponting and Kevin Pietersen shared a commentary box during the Big Bash League, the former Australia skipper took the chance to ask a few pointed questions