‘Sitting on his a***’: England legend’s tweet reignites 12-year feud with ex-teammate

England legend Kevin Pietersen has reignited his long-running feud with former national teammate Sir Alastair Cook, declaring his opinion on Jacob Bethell IPL’s involvement “doesn’t matter at all”.

The 22-year-old Bethell, who cemented himself in England’s Test starting XI with a dazzling century during January’s Ashes contest in Sydney, is currently with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad in India on a AU$400,000 IPL contract. However, the young all-rounder is yet to feature in the tournament, watching from the sidelines and carrying drinks during each of Bengaluru’s six matches.

Bethell has not played any competitive cricket since early March, while he has only played one first-class match for Warwickshire since August 2024. Last year, the left-hander missed selection for England’s season opener against Zimbabwe due to IPL commitments, with Ollie Pope preferred at No. 3 in his absence.

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Earlier this week, former England captain Cook urged Bethell to leave the IPL early and return home to play county cricket for Warwickshire ahead of the international home summer. England’s first Test against New Zealand commences at Lord’s on June 4, four days after the IPL final.

“For that top order batting, the way he played at Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions – I’ve looked at a player there and I’m certain this bloke can open. If he can bat three, he can open,” Cook told the Stick to Cricket podcast.

“(But) it’s not ideal, is it? Bethell shouldn’t really be it, because he’s not opening. He’s sitting on his a*** at the IPL not doing anything. Ideally he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England.”

However, Pietersen rekindled his old feud with Cook by urging Bethell to stay in the subcontinent, arguing the experience will be more beneficial than time in the County Championship.

“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO IDEA what it’s like to be in the IPL, what’s it’s like to always be around the best players in the world,” Pietersen tweeted on Thursday.

“So his opinion on Jacob Bethell doesn’t matter at all.

“Stay in India, Jacob. I know, even though you’re not playing, you’re learning and will be a way better player.”

He added: “If county cricket was as strong as it was in the late 90s and early 2000s, I’d also want Bethell back playing it now. But, it’s NOT!

“It’ll benefit England more by him being in India and he’s already shown that.”

Pietersen, one of England’s IPL trailblazers, was dropped from England’s Test side following the disastrous 2013/14 Ashes tour, when Cook was national captain.

Asked about his IPL involvement on the Sky Cricket podcast, Bethell argued that remaining in India was “the thing for me to be doing right now”.

“I feel better now than I was a month ago after the World Cup, just from getting time around the guys over here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL,” he said.

“Every nets session, you’ve got hundreds of eyes on you, be it your coaches or the other players who are also looking at you, going, ‘Is this guy good? Is he not?’ You’ve got the people in the crowd with their phones on. You get exposed to a lot of stuff.”

He added: “You might not get the amount of time in the middle as in County Championship playing four rounds of that. But I think in terms of the ability to actually just continue doing what you want to do when there are loads of eyes on you, is really important for me personally going forward.”

Elsewhere, former England fast bowler Steve Harmison warned that Bethell was at risk of missing selection for the series opener against the Black Caps due to the lack of cricket under his belt.

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