Kevin Pietersen Rejoins England Setup as White-Ball Mentor Through 2027 World Cup

Kevin Pietersen has officially rejoined the England fold, appointed as a specialist mentor for the men's white-ball teams through to the 2027 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, more than a decade after his international career ended in acrimonious circumstances.

Pietersen links up with Brendon McCullum's coaching staff starting with the ongoing T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka, joining a group that already includes Marcus Trescothick, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel and Sarah Taylor. He will miss England's ODI tri-series in Pakistan in October but will be involved on winter tours to Australia and South Africa, before home series against Pakistan and New Zealand next summer leading into the World Cup itself.

"Putting on the England uniform again for the first time since 2014 is a profound honour and a deeply special moment," Pietersen said. His international career ended following the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash amid what then-director of cricket Andrew Strauss described as a "massive trust issue" with the ECB, with Strauss revealing at the time that Pietersen had actually turned down a similar white-ball advisor role back then. The 46-year-old scored nearly 14,000 international runs across 104 Tests, 136 ODIs and 37 T20Is, and was Player of the Tournament when England won the 2010 T20 World Cup, with the ECB citing his South African upbringing as valuable local knowledge ahead of next year's tournament.