London, August 13: England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been dropped for the final Test against South Africa starting on Thursday over allegations he sent derogatory texts to the rival team, a statement said on Sunday.
Pietersen had previously hinted the Lord's Test could be his final match for England but issued an apology on Saturday which said he wanted to commit to all forms of the game with England.
"During the past week we have held several discussions with Kevin Pietersen and his advisers. Following a constructive meeting it was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room," England cricket managing director Hugh Morris said. "A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team. This has not been forthcoming despite clear timelines being set to allow the selectors to pick the squad."
The South African-born Pietersen had threatened to quit test cricket after the second Test, blaming "politics" and leaks to the media, but reversed his position on Saturday and made himself available again for his adopted country in all formats.
Pietersen retired from one-day internationals earlier this year, and as a consequence England ruled him out of its Twenty20 side.
"The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust," Morris said. "Whilst we have made every attempt to find a solution to enable Kevin to be selected we have sadly had to conclude that, in the best interest of the team, he will miss the Lords test."
Yorkshire batsman Jonny Bairstow is named to replace Pietersen by ECB.
England squad: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, James Taylor, Jonathan Trott.
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