Kevin Pietersen quits cricket

London, March 17 - Former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Saturday called time on his cricketing career with a four-word Twitter message, writing ‘Boots up! Thank you.

"‘Boots up! Feet up! Family, animals, golf! H O M E!'," Pietersen wrote in a tweet.

The 37-year-old has been away from international cricket since January 2014, when he played the last of his 104 Tests during the Ashes series in Australia, when England were swept 0-5. 

Since then, he had been playing in the various domestic T20 leagues across the globe and in February this year, he had indicated that the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) would be his last professional outing.

His side, Quetta Gladiators, have made it to the play-offs of the Twenty20 event, but Pietersen opted out as the remaining matches will be played in Pakistan. He scored 155 runs in eight innings for Quetta at an average of 19.37 and a strike rate of 134.78.

Pietersen, born in South Africa, had an illustrious career for England. He finished up in Test matches when still in his early 30s with 8181 runs at 47.28, including 23 centuries and 35 half-centuries. 

He remains the fifth most prolific run-scorer for England in the format, behind Alastair Cook, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart and David Gower.

He was equally effective in the One-day International arena, scoring 4440 runs in 136 outings at an impressive 47.28.

Pietersen captained England in three Test matches as well as 12 ODIs in 2008.

The second-highest scorer for England across all formats behind Cook, Pietersen also featured in 37 Twenty20 Internationals, in which he scored 1176 runs with seven half-centuries and was awarded the Player of the Tournament when England won the ICC World T20 title in 2010. 

He has been a very popular pick for T20 franchises across the world, stepping out exactly 200 times and scoring 5695 runs.

Making his Test debut in the 2005 Ashes series, which England famously won 2-1, Pietersen made an immediate impact by scoring a half-century in each of his first two innings. He played his last representative game in England for Surrey last year.

Apart from being active in the T20 circuit, Pietersen has also been actively involved in the conservation of rhinos in South Africa, campaigning against poaching in his native country, where he has relocated since wrapping up with the England national team.

IANS