Pietersen: 'The world of franchise T20 has hurt county cricket'

Kevin Pietersen has complained that the lure of big money elsewhere is preventing the best players in the global game from taking part in English cricket's premier domestic tournament

^{Former England international Kevin Pietersen}

Kevin Pietersen believes the increasing prominence of franchise T20 competitions across the world is having a detrimental effect on the County Championship.

Commenting after England's top order collapsed once again against India, who reduced their hosts to 86 for six in the first innings of the fourth Test at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday, Pietersen complained that the lure of big money elsewhere is preventing the best players in the global game from taking part in English cricket's premier domestic tournament.

Pietersen, himself a veteran of the T20 merry-go-round having played the format in Australia, India, the UAE, Bangladesh and the Caribbean, suggested that without world-class opposition England's batting development has stagnated.

"The world of T20 franchise cricket has hurt County Cricket," he wrote on Twitter.

^{England struggled with the bat again at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday}

"Why would the best pro’s play CC when they can earn big $$ playing T20’s.

"Therefore, the standard of CC batting has declined rapidly which means the growth of youngsters is a lot slower than where it was."

Pietersen played for Hampshire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey in the Championship during his long and illustrious career, making 16,522 first-class runs, 8,181 of which came in Test matches for England.

His take on England's recent batting struggles was met with opposition from another former national captain, Michael Vaughan, who pointed towards the performance of a 20-year-old allrounder at the Ageas.

"Sam Curran is doing ok ... He is a Young player Kelvin," the outspoken Vaughan wrote after Curran hit 78 to take England to 246 all out on day one.

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