Having recently rejoined England’s backroom team after over a decade away, Kevin Pietersen has discussed supporting the squad ahead of the upcoming Ashes series with Test coach Stephen Fleming. This month, the 46-year-old Pietersen, England’s third-highest run scorer across all formats, was named a specialist mentor for the white-ball teams in preparation for the 2027 World Cup.
Following Sri Lanka’s ODI series-levelling victory at Headingley on Thursday, Pietersen said he has also discussed the possibility of working with England’s new Test coach, Stephen Fleming, about joining the red-ball squad. Though he cannot commit full-time due to his schedule, he hopes to exert some influence on December’s tour to South Africa and prior to the 2027 Ashes.
Cricinfo quotes Kevin Pietersen. “Inside a tournament, I can’t do anything. There’s nothing I can do. But I’ve certainly had a conversation with Flem – who I absolutely love – about language that he would like me to use with the Test batters going into, say, South Africa, and then certainly into the summer next year. But I don’t think I can commit to a lot more time.”
Since retiring from playing, Pietersen has mainly worked as a broadcaster and also runs various business ventures. Earlier this year, he launched the successful YouTube channel The Switch. He admitted that dedicating much more time to coaching would be challenging, but he has already discussed Test batting with some players and intends to continue these conversations during winter white-ball tours to Australia ( three ODIs, five T20Is) and South Africa ( three ODIs).
He added, “There was a lot of strategy in the way that I approached batting. Yes, occasionally I got out to reckless shots and crazy shots in the 80s and 90s and stuff, but actually, there was a lot of structure to the way that I batted. I’m very, very happy that I did take up the role because it gives me a way, way, way happier perspective on where English cricket actually is. You’ve got a young bunch of guys here that are absolutely driven to be successful, and you’ve got Baz who is hell-bent on making sure that we’re the fittest, strongest, most adaptable team, and he is on an absolute path to make sure that we are competitive next year.”
The inaugural Test of the 2027 Ashes series is set to start on June 18 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. A powerful middle-order batsman, Pietersen amassed nearly 14,000 runs across all three formats for England, a team last crowned ODI World Cup champions in 2019 on home soil.
