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Brendon McCullum instigated the extraordinary move to bring arch critic Kevin Pietersen into England’s coaching set-up.
It has been normal practice over the past decade for individuals with specialist local knowledge to be recruited by the ECB on consultancy terms ahead of major tours or global tournaments overseas, but the engagement of Pietersen carries extra shock value, coming as it does so soon after he lambasted McCullum’s white-ball regime.
However, Daily Mail Sport understands it was McCullum who proposed the role to Pietersen earlier this summer, around the time the New Zealander was relieved of his Test coaching responsibilities.
In the official press release, McCullum, 44, said he had ‘immense respect’ for former England captain Pietersen, who will join up for twin white-ball series against Sri Lanka starting next week and will remain around the environment until next year’s World Cup in southern Africa.
But he also clearly holds no grudges, after Pietersen’s scathing assessment of England’s preparation, or lack of it, on a limited-overs tour of India 18 months ago.
In his role as a broadcaster during that tour, he accused England of a slack approach to pre-match practice.
Kevin Pietersen has been appointed as a mentor to England's white-ball sides despite being a vocal critic of Brendon McCullum's set-up in the past
In fact it was McCullum (right) who instigated the appointment of his former critic
McCullum hit back, saying it was ‘factually incorrect’ of Pietersen and fellow commentator Ravi Shastri to say England had not done enough training during a tour which ended in two crushing series defeats.
It was true, however, that in trying to strike a balance between the intensity of a tour of India and a desire not to allow it to become all consuming, England had not netted ahead of the second and third one-day internationals.
One source close to McCullum said on Monday that contrary to a public image of being stubborn, he covets strong opinions within the dressing room culture he creates and views Pietersen as someone who will naturally increase energy levels.
Pietersen has never been shy of speaking his mind, of course. Or rubbing people up the wrong way in the process.
And even though he has softened since being sacked by England 12 years ago, briefly returning to do some coaching on the white-ball tour of South Africa three years ago, he was critical of Harry Brook in swerving an Indian Premier League deal in 2025 that would have seen the pair work together at Delhi Capitals.
In an interview with ESPN last year, he said: ‘I told him. I was like, "Dude, I'm gutted that I can't work with you for a few months". I think that he is a star… You don't hit one ball over extra cover and the next, same ball, over midwicket if you can't play.
‘So he can properly play, but he has technical flaws in the subcontinent – in India, in particular. I really wanted to work with him, but people make their own choices in life and you've got to respect them. He has a flaw playing spin in India – a real big flaw. Two months here, imagine what might have happened if he had fixed that?
‘I would've worked the same with him as I did with (Joe) Root and (Jonny) Bairstow at the start of their careers. Root turned out to be the greatest player of spin England's ever had. I'm not saying it's because of what we did when he was a youngster, but we spent hours together batting in the nets, going through drills and practising. I love that stuff.’
Pietersen (pictured celebrating victory in the 2013 Ashes) is one of England's finest ever batsmen
An explosive hitter in his playing days, he will be working with England's white-ball sides for 15 months
Intriguingly, Daily Mail Sport can reveal Pietersen has been pursuing England’s biggest stars this summer, as yet to no avail – keen for them to appear on episodes of his YouTube channel The Switch, which features challenges and interviews with leading players from around the world.
Now, he will don an England tracksuit and hook up with a side in Southampton next week who briefly reached No1 in the world T20 rankings this year, mentoring a group including many who idolised his flamboyant style as youngsters. By contrast, England lie down in seventh in the ODI rankings.
As part of a consultancy set to run 15 months, Pietersen, 46, will also be involved on the tours to Australia and South Africa this winter and then return next summer for series against Pakistan and New Zealand, which will finalise preparations for the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next autumn.
‘Putting on the England uniform again for the first time since 2014 is a profound honour and a deeply special moment,’ said Pietersen, whose 277-cap international career included being named man of the tournament during the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup win in the Caribbean.
‘We have an incredibly talented white-ball squad, and I am excited to get in the trenches and work relentlessly hard with these players to maximise their potential.
‘To be a part of Brendon’s think tank over the next 12 months is a fantastic opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started.’
Although McCullum planted the seed on this one, South African-raised Pietersen’s recruitment is the latest ‘specialist’ signed up during Rob Key’s tenure as director of England men’s cricket: Mike Hussey was part of the support staff during the Twenty20 World Cup triumph in Australia in 2022 while Kieron Pollard took up a similar position in the 2024 event in the Caribbean, which resulted in a semi-final exit.
As far back as 11 years ago, England turned to Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene to help them understand the challenges of playing on the pitches of Asia.
Pietersen worked with Joe Root on his batting against spin in the subcontinent early in his career
Of Pietersen, McCullum added: ‘I’m particularly excited for our batters to get the opportunity to work with him. KP has a unique understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level, which will be hugely valuable to our players.’
His appointment comes hot on the heels of another high-profile former England player, Andrew Flintoff, leaving his role as England Lions coach.
Flintoff has been replaced for this week’s Lions fixtures against the touring Sri Lankans by another multi-Ashes winner Jonathan Trott.
Ravi Bopara and Graeme Swann are also in the coaching set-up while the 20-strong playing squad includes half a dozen full internationals, including Tom Banton and Jamie Overton.
