Cricket: Kevin Pietersen ruled out of facing Black Caps

England's Kevin Pietersen. Photo / Ross Setford.

There is no chance Kevin Pietersen will make a shock return to the England team to face the Black Caps and Australia in the upcoming Test series in the UK.

The South Africa-born batsman was sent into international exile following England's disastrous Ashes tour in February last year.

His form for county side Surrey has been compelling, including a triple century this week.

However after meeting with Pietersen, England's new Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss has put the matter to rest.

"Over months and years, the trust between himself and the ECB has eroded and we're in a situation now where there is massive a massive trust issue between Kevin and I," Strauss said.

"And because of that we've decided that it's not in the best short term interest of the side for him to be in that team."

"I can't give him any guarantees about the future but he's not banned from the side."

Strauss said they can't have a situation where Pietersen and the ECB don't trust each other.

"It's not about his capability as a player, it's about trust. We can't build that up over the course of a few days. That's the reality."

"Everyone knows there's no trust out there, I think we've got to be really open and honest about that and accept that fact."

"If there's a way to build trust then let's look at it but at the moment we're quite estranged."

The first test between the Black Caps and England at Lord's starts next week.