LONDON (AP) — Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been named a specialist mentor to help England’s men white-ball team succeed at next years’ World Cup in southern Africa, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Monday.
Pietersen will join up with England men’s white ball head coach Brendon McCullum for September's IT20 ODI series against Sri Lanka and will go on the team’s white-ball tours to Australia and South Africa in the winter, home series against Pakistan and New Zealand in the summer and the 50-over World Cup co-organized by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia Oct. 4 — Nov 21.
“Putting on the England uniform again for the first time since 2014 is a profound honor and a deeply special moment,” Pietersen said.
“We have an incredibly talented white-ball squad, and I am excited to get in the trenches and work relentlessly hard with these players to maximize their potential. To be a part of Brendon’s think tank over the next 12 months is a fantastic opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started.”
McCullum welcomed the move.
“I’m particularly excited for our batters to get the opportunity to work with him,” he said. “(He) has a unique understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level, which will be hugely valuable to our players. We’ve always respected each other and had a strong appreciation for what the other brings to the game, so I’m really looking forward to working together.”
Pietersen scored more than 5,500 runs for England in 136 ODIs and 37 T20 matches. In his 104 test matches, he scored 8,181 runs.
He was dismissed from the England team after an embarrassing 5-0 loss at the 2013-14 Ashes series in Australia.
Pietersen was a mentor for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League last year.
See AP’s full cricket coverage here
FILE - Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen speaks to media ahead of the Cricket World Cup opening party along The Mall in London, on May 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
KFAR RUMMAN, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force carried out two airstrikes early Monday on a southern Lebanese village, killing at least nine people and wounding others, including women and children, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
Monday’s strikes came amid a new round of escalation between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group despite a truce reached more than two months ago. The strikes also came days after Israel’s military said it is in “operational control” of the strategic Ali Taher hill that overlooks several villages as well as main roads leading to the city of Nabatiyeh.
The Health Ministry said one of the strikes hit a building, killing eight people including a child and two women. It added that 11 people were also wounded, including four children and two women.
The ministry said that another strike on a car in the village killed a paramedic with the Lebanese Islamic Risala Scout Association and wounded two others.
“We have been living in constant anxiety amid shelling on the outskirts,” said Kfar Rumman resident Fouad Chakaron as he stood in front of the destroyed building. “Now they struck the heart of the town.”
Another resident, Saleh Medlej, pointed to the destroyed building and said this was home to families with children. “Are there missiles here?” he asked in reference to the building where the families lived.
“I will not leave this place,” Medlej said, vowing to stay in his hometown despite the airstrikes and shelling.
Earlier Monday, Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning for a home in the village of Deir al-Zahrani and shortly afterward a building was struck. The Israeli military said the strike was in retaliation for a drone attack by Hezbollah militants. There was no word on casualties.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon and leveled an empty hospital.
A U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hezbollah as been repeatedly violated with Israel carrying out airstrikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah firing drones at Israeli troops.
Lebanon and Israel in June signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but little progress has been made in its implementation.
Hezbollah is not a party to the Lebanon-Israel talks and has said it will not give up its weapons in any area north of southern Lebanon’s Litani River. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said they will not withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed throughout the country.
Kfar Rumman's mayor, Abdullah Farhat, described what happened in the village as “a massacre in every sense of the word.” He blasted the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel saying that Lebanese leaders “signed deals and we are paying the price here.”
“There is an enemy that is not concerned about anything,” Farhat said, referring to strikes that have been ongoing since the deal was signed.
People watch rescue workers use excavators as they search for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A rescue worker searches for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
