No selection delay for T20 squad

England are thought to be among the nations who asked the International Cricket Council for an extension of the deadline from Saturday, a request the ICC agreed to by yesterday announcing it had been put back until Friday,  24 August.

Pietersen was not in England’s original 30-man list, which was due to be reduced to 15, after retiring from limited-overs cricket.

Since admitting he could not guarantee his Test career might also be over and then announcing he wanted to play for England in all three formats of the game, Pietersen has been forced to apologise for “provocative” text messages he sent to members of the South Africa team and also been dropped from the final Test against his native country which began at Lord’s yesterday.

But it is understood defending champions England did not ask for an extension so the England and Wales Cricket Board could make moves to bring Pietersen back into the Twenty20 squad.

It is understood England made their request to ensure no significant announcement coincides with the middle of their must-win Test match against South Africa at Lord’s – in which their world number one status is on the line.