In what came as a surprise to many, Australia coach Darren Lehmann called on the Big Bash League [BBL] franchise Melbourne Stars to sack former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

This came after Pietersen was dismissed for just five in the Stars’ BBL semi-final defeat against the Perth Scorchers on Tuesday.

Despite Pietersen’s failure to step up against the Scorchers, he’s been one of the top batsmen in the BBL this season. The 36-year-old notched up 268 runs from eight matches at an average of 38.28 and a strike-rate of 128.22.

Even with such impressive stats, Lehmann tweeted:

Eddie McGuire, President of the Melbourne Stars, was quick to hit back at Lehmann. Speaking on radio station Triple M, he defended Pietersen by saying that only Chris Lynn has scored more BBL runs over the last three seasons.

“KP is not the highest paid player at the Stars for a start, he has delivered in spades. The last three Big Bash leagues, KP is second only to Chris Lynn for runs scored,” said McGuire.

“He has bought in that many people. The last two years which team has had the biggest crowds in the history of the Twenty20 Big Bash. He is a crowd favourite.”