Border critical of Pietersen

Former Australian captain Allan Border has criticised injured English batsman Kevin Pietersen for not staying with the touring side.

Pietersen broke a rib early on in the ODI tri-series and was subsequently rushed home to England.

“I’ve got to say he was on the plane before the X-ray came back, Kevin Pietersen,” the former Australian selector said on Inside Cricket.

“If he’s got a broken rib, fair enough, but it wasn’t displaced broken, it was just cracked and given two weeks’ break and he could be playing.

“With England a chance to scrape into the finals and he (would have been) a key man. Too quick on to the plane for my liking.”

England have had an abysmal tour in Australia so far. Losing the Ashes five-nil, they haven’t fared much better in the one-day series either, the most recent loss coming yesterday when they went down to the Kiwis by 58 runs in Perth.

Pietersen, who was England’s star performer during the Ashes, recently expressed his relief at coming back home, saying it was a huge burden off his shoulders “knowing I don’t have to deal with all the abuse as soon as I wake in the morning.”