Boycott rules out KP recall

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Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott believes an international recall for Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to occur while Alastair Cook leads the side.

After England’s 5-0 Ashes defeat to Australia earlier this year, Pietersen’s international career was effectively brought to an end in an attempt to support Cook.

While ‘KP’ hasn’t actually called time on his international career, a return to the national team seams slim since he is set to reveal his version of the events that led to him being dropped from the side in his autobiography, which will be released next month when a confidentiality clause expires.

“They won’t consider him again, they won’t go back. Whether that’s right or wrong I don’t know but they’re not going to go back, they’ve made a decision,” Boycott told BBC Radio Five earlier this week.

“Too many people just feel we don’t need it, we don’t need the difficulty.

“They know they have enough problems, they don’t want any more problems.

“Keeping somebody like Kev, who can give you match-winning performances but can give you headaches, you need a captain who can handle that.

“I’m almost sure in my own mind the current captain can’t. Alastair’s a nice lad, you couldn’t say anything bad about him…but I don’t think he can handle someone like Kevin.

“It takes a strong personality and I don’t think he is.

“(He’s) strong in batting, not strong in handling people.”

Another former England captain and Boycott’s colleague at the BBC Michael Vaughan, said that he had no problems leading Pietersen when he was skipper of the side, although that was when KP was still a young player finding his feet at international level.

“Michael Vaughan got him at the beginning of his career, it was much easier because he hadn’t become such a big figure in cricket,” Boycott added.

“Michael, if he’d have been captain later on when Kevin became a star, I think would have handled him better because he was a very good captain, an excellent captain.”

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