Pietersen fined after Twitter outburst

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 14:14

Written by Editor

Kevin Pietersen has been fined an undisclosed sum for a Twitter tirade which followed a decision to drop the England batsman from the one-day team.He used an expletive in an angry message in response to being omitted from the squad for the Twenty20 and 50-over series against Pakistan.

The 30-year-old attended a disciplinary hearing at Lord's on Monday and pleaded guilty to two unspecified charges. He also offered an "unreserved apology" to the England management team. The England and Wales Cricket Board will pass on Pietersen's fine to its nominated charities.

"The hearing considered his comments to be prejudicial to the interests of Team England and the England and Wales Cricket Board and a significant breach of the England player conditions of employment," read an ECB statement.

Pietersen's tweet, which appeared briefly prior to the official announcement of England's squad on  August 31st, was, he claimed, intended for friends and he hastily deleted it after realising his mistake.

"It wasn't meant for the public domain," he said the following day. Pietersen was one of the stars of England's triumph at the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean earlier this year, but the selectors decided to give him a break from the international game after he admitted his confidence was low following the recent Tests against Pakistan.

Since then, he has returned to county cricket with Surrey and hit 116 off 105 balls in a 40-over match against Sussex last weekend, his first century for 18 months. He is not the first player to fall foul of the game's authorities because of Twitter. Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas was fined £1,000 by his county after a Twitter rant at England chairman of selectors Geoff Miller.