He Can't Bat, Says Kevin Pietersen As He Launches Withering Assault On Keaton Jennings

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has launched a stunning tirade against out-of-form England batsman Keaton Jennings.

Keaton Jennings’ career is in tatters after his horror show in the recently-concluded series against India. The left-handed batsman had entered the final Test of the summer at the Oval under immense pressure. His scores in the first four games of the series read – 42, 8, 11, 20, 13, 0 and 36. And he did little at the Oval to ease off the pressure. Jennings managed just 23 in the first before being castled in a horrible manner for 10 in the second.

The latest failure has only extended Jennings’ poor run in Tests. The left-hander, who scored a century in India on his debut, has not scored a fifty in his last 18 innings, thus becoming the first England opener to achieve this dubious record. Jennings is yet to score a fifty in England despite playing 10 Tests. Jennings is averaging just 22.09 after representing England in 12 Tests .

His dismissal for 10 against India means he ends his Test summer with just 192 from 10 Test innings with a top score of just 42.

And now Kevin Pietersen has launched an stunning attack on the opener, saying that Jennings cannot bat. The England legend also said that replacing the just-retired Alastair Cook is going to be difficult for England.

“Jennings can’t bat, I’m sorry. They are going to have to find somebody else,” he told Talksport.

“Alastair Cook is a big loss. I know he’s been wishy-washy over the last couple of months but he finished on a fairytale ending, which is brilliant for him. But to replace that kind of guy at the top of the order is going to be difficult.

“I just don’t see county cricket producing Test cricketers at the moment. The issue is deep-rooted. All the best players in the world now are not playing county cricket. They’re earning their cash in franchise cricket,” he added.

He further expressed his delight over Surrey opener Rory Burns being tipped to get the nod for the Sri Lanka tour.

Pietersen went on to say that he would like to see Burns opening the innings with white-ball specialist Jason Roy.

“It’s brilliant that Rory Burns is predicted to go on the tour of Sri Lanka. That’s going to be wonderful,” he said.

“I like Jason Roy. He has oomph, he has got guts and has got runs at the top of the order in Australia (in one-day cricket).

“It’s about how guys score their runs and what their personalities are like. I’d be all for Roy at the top of the order with Rory Burns,” he added.

England are likely to announce the limited-overs squad for the Sri Lanka tour on Monday or Tuesday and the Test squad on the 23rd or 24th.