County Championship: Surrey decide not to pick Kevin Pietersen against Worcestershire

Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to play any first-class cricket this summer after Surrey decided not to pick him for their Championship squad that will travel to face Worcestershire.

There had been suggestions that Pietersen, who has played exclusively Twenty20 cricket since being axed by England last winter, might play in Surrey's final two county matches.

But third-placed Surrey, who only have an outside chances of winning promotion from Division Two, have decided to look to the future by giving younger players their chance in the game away to table-toppers Worcestershire on Tuesday.

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart explained the reasoning on the club's website saying: "We discussed it, (head coach) Graham Ford and myself, the possibility of bringing Kevin in, but realistically, we've got just an outside chance of promotion.

"So it's better for the future of the club if we give the likes of an Aneesh Kapil or Arun Harinath two first-class games to gain more experience to see how they can progress - which will stand us in good stead for next season."