Batsman Kevin Pietersen will play for Surrey against Lancashire tomorrow after performing a surprising U-turn.
The 34-year-old had agreed to play for the county this summer in a bid to earn an England recall, but new ECB director of cricket Andrew Strauss told him earlier this month that he would not be selected for the national team.
It was expected that Pietersen would leave Surrey to play in Twenty20 tournaments around the world, but Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart has confirmed that he is still keen to play for the Division Two side.
He told BBC Sport: "I'm pleasantly surprised he wants to play. A motivated KP is a fine, fine player. There will be some people who are surprised because of what the original arrangement was. It was all about trying to get back into the England side and we were pleased and proud to have him.
"Originally, the arrangement was that once either the England door had been shut in his face or he was picked by England then his time with us would stop. It looks as if the door has been shut in his face but he still wants to play. We'll look at this game and then we'll see where we are."
Pietersen scored 355 not out against Leicestershire three weeks ago.
Charlie Bennett
