• England's Pietersen dilemma

Pietersen recalled to Surrey CB40 squad

Kevin Pietersen is set to return to action on Sunday © PA Photos

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Kevin Pietersen will return to action for Surrey in Sunday's CB40 match against one of his previous clubs, Hampshire, at West End.

Pietersen, who was dropped from the England side for the final Test of the series against South Africa at Lord's following an incident where he sent what he termed 'provocative' texts about England captain Andrew Strauss to members of the South Africa team, is anxious to win a recall to England's limited-overs squads. The ECB will announce the squads for the World Twenty20 and the limited-overs series against South Africa on Tuesday.

The ECB has also released Pietersen for the CB40 against Glamorgan at the Oval on Tuesday, a game which will be used to launch the Tom Maynard Trust, a charity founded in memory of the Surrey and Glamorgan batsman who died in tragic circumstances in June aged just 23. No decision has yet been made about the playing commitments of any of England's other contracted players beyond Tuesday.

Surrey will be grateful for Pietersen's return. Their form has deteriorated since the death of Maynard, with Mark Ramprakash retiring and Rory Hamilton-Brown taking extended compassionate leave and relinquishing the captaincy. They can still retain the CB40 trophy they won last year, however, and go into Sunday's game against Hampshire just a point behind the hosts with a game in hand.

Quite what reception Pietersen can expect remains to be seen. He left Hampshire under something of a cloud in 2010 having complained about the distance of the ground from his Chelsea home and the events of recent weeks will have done little to win over those who were unimpressed by him then.

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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