The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Saturday dismissed claims that Kevin Pietersen aggravated his Achilles injury by going against medical advice while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last April. Pietersen has been ruled out of the final three Ashes Tests due to the injury which it had been claimed the batsman made worse during a jog on the beach while on duty with Bangalore Royal Challengers in South Africa.
But the ECB have firmly denied that Pietersen's actions constituted a break with his prescribed training plan. A spokesman told The Guardian: "Pietersen reported to Loughborough before he flew out to South Africa (for the IPL) and was passed fit to join up with Bangalore. "ECB medical staff sent Bangalore a fitness programme and at no stage did Kevin Pietersen do anything to contradict that and at no stage was he told not to go running.