Kevin Pietersen will decide in the coming week if his England career can be salvaged. The incoming chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Colin Graves, has told Pietersen he has to play county cricket if he harbours any hopes of an England return, and that could mean abandoning commitments to play in the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League.

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Pietersen has not played for England since a parting of the ways after the calamitous Ashes tour of 2013/14, but his name continues to cast a shadow over the side.

England’s continued struggles in the short-form of the game prompt many to call for his return, even after the fall-out of his controversial autobiography which made several claims about the culture of the England dressing room.

Graves told BBC Radio 5’s Sportsweek: “The first thing he has to do if he wants to get back is start playing county cricket. The selectors and the coaches are not going to pick him if he’s not playing, it’s as simple as that. I’ll leave it at that.”

Pietersen left Surrey last autumn and is currently without a county contract, but Graves has given the 34-year-old food for thought.

“I was pleasantly surprised this morning actually,” Pietersen said. “The previous chap (former ECB chairman Giles Clarke) was clearly (saying) I’d been banned from playing for England and that I would never play for England again, which for me was incredibly sad because I do feel my England career was cut short and taken away from me.”

Pietersen added, on Sky Sports 2: “I’ll definitely want to speak to the ECB. Let’s be clear: I’d love to play for England again.”

Pietersen would take a financial hit if he chose to return to county cricket, rather than take up lucrative overseas Twenty20 deals.

But he said: “This is not about money. This is about me playing cricket for England, doing something I love.

“It’s a decision which would be on the basis of, ‘Do I want to play cricket for England?’, ‘Is this a genuine situation where I could – if I score runs for potentially Surrey – play for England again?’ It’s decisions like that I’ll have to make this week.”