Kevin Pietersen slams decision to drop Ian Bell as 'pathetic'
Thursday 19 November 2015 15:12, UK
Kevin Pietersen says the decision to drop Ian Bell from the England Test squad is "pathetic".
Bell was a surprise omission from the squad announced for the forthcoming tour of South Africa, despite his inconsistent recent form.
Bell, the eighth highest run-scorer in England's Test history, averaged just over 30 in the recent series with Pakistan, and has not scored a century since July last year.
Pietersen, who has not played for England since January 2014, says the selectors have made a serious mistake in overlooking one of their most experienced batsman ahead of what will be a tough tour against the world No 1 Test nation.
In a video posted on Twitter, Pietersen said: "I'm actually sitting here very, very, very annoyed.
"How can you take somebody who has played over 100 Test matches - and you've got the biggest Test series of the year coming up, against the No 1 side in the world - and drop him? Leave him out of the tour.
"I mean it's absolutely ridiculous. I understand people who say 'he might have not scored some runs in a while.' But you are going to play South Africa, in South Africa against one of the best bowling attacks that has bowled over the last few years.
"You have to take him because of his experience. You just have to take him. You cannot drop him before this. If he doesn't score runs after South Africa then maybe I could sort of understand it. But I just do not understand the thinking behind this."
Pietersen says Bell is being treated differently from skipper Alastair Cook, who was backed by England's selectors despite a barren spell with the bat in which the opener failed to reach three figures in nearly two years, between May 2013 and May 2015.
Pietersen added: "Captain Cook himself, he can go two years without scoring a Test hundred but he can play every single game. 'Belly' struggles a little bit, his last hundred nine or 10 Tests ago, but he's not good enough to get on the South Africa tour.
"I think it's pathetic and I think he's been hard done by here. People need to start having a look at themselves."
