• Pietersen ‘near the end’

    Kevin Pietersen has hinted the forthcoming Big Bash League could be his last tournament as he is ‘losing interest’ in cricket.

    The 37-year-old admits his fourth BBL season with the Melbourne Stars might be his last playing appearance anywhere before he calls time on a top-flight cricket career that began nearly two decades ago in his native South Africa.

    ‘I am definitely coming to the end of my playing time,’ Pietersen told cricket.com.au. ‘It’s fairly close. It’s the practice that you look at and you just think, ”do I want to do it?”

    ‘I’ve still got the energy at the moment but it’s dwindling.’

    Asked directly if this could be the last time cricket fans see him play, Pietersen said: ‘Possibly.’

    In January last year, the Stars announced that Pietersen had signed a contract that tied him to the club until the end of this BBL season.

    The dynamic batsman pulled out of this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League ahead of the auction, while he played his final match in the United Kingdom in July after signing off with a two-game stint with Surrey.

    Since controversially being banished from the England Test side following their 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, Pietersen has played T20 cricket around the world.

    He will this year be eligible to play for South Africa and has hinted he could make a bid for the 2019 World Cup. In an earlier interview, before the Global League T20 was aborted, he said: ‘I’m going to be playing a lot of cricket in South Africa over the next two years, so we’ll see. Who knows where I’ll be in two years’ time? If I enjoy batting, we’ll see where I get to. I’m in a very happy place.’