Kevin Pietersen has backed Colin Graves to make the changes needed to revitalise England.
Graves will take up his post as the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board in May and his priority will be to reinvigorate England’s one-day side, who were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages after an embarrassing defeat to Bangladesh on Monday.
The defeat gave ammunition to those who believe it was a mistake to drop Pietersen from the international setup 14 months ago. Graves appeared to leave the door open for the batsman when he suggested Pietersen would have a better chance of an England return if he played county cricket.
Pietersen tweeted on Tuesday: “Quick note – ECB doesn’t decide who gets to play in IPL/Big Bash. The franchises have to want them! Plenty have tried & failed to get a go! But, the encouraging news is that the new boss has the vision to look to open up a window to hopefully give players a better chance!
“I really do think changes are going to be made & positive things are going to start to happen for the good of English cricket…”
Paul Downton, the ECB’s managing director, insisted after Monday’s defeat that England needed to look at giving players more experience in the Twenty20 format.
Pietersen was sacked by England in January 2014 and has since played domestic T20 cricket for Delhi Daredevils, Surrey, St Lucia Zouks and Melbourne Stars. The 34-year-old is without a county contract, having left Surrey in October.