text: Kevin Pietersen releases his autobiography next week - and the fall-out for England cricket could be messy - Mike Walters - Mirror Online
  Kevin Pietersen releases his autobiography next week - and the fall-out for England cricket could be messy
  The ECB will have to explain in detail why the nation's record run-scorer was dumped or seek to stop him cashing in as a T20 gun for hire, writes Mike Walters
  Pietersen's out: KP's potentially explosive book hits shelves next Thursday (
  Everyone in the air-raid shelter and assume the position when you hear the siren.
  Kevin Pietersen's long-awaited autobiography is published next week – and the fall-out could be messy.
  If Pietersen was the scapegoat for last winter's Ashes meltdown in Australia, and his sacking by a Lord's kangaroo court was a public relations disaster for the England and Wales Cricket Board, the aftershocks are liable to be bumpy.
  Since the confidentiality agreement affixed to Pietersen's KP45 expired at midnight on Tuesday, there has been a phoney war of silence on both sides.
  But when the first shots are fired early next week, the ECB will be forced to explain in detail why England's record scorer across all forms of the game was dumped, or seek to stop him cashing in as a Twenty20 gun for hire this winter.
  KP would like the ECB to make public the alleged dossier, outlining up to 50 so-called misdemeanours he committed in Australia, so fans can judge his version of events against the governing body's stance.
  The ECB, however, will wait for him to publish and be damned before measuring their response.
  Former England team director Andy Flower is expected to cop the most searing criticism in the 34-year-old's book.
  Managing director Paul Downton, skipper Alastair Cook and Matt Prior, his deputy in Oz, are also likely to be in the firing line.
  Pietersen cancelled his ­registration with Surrey at the end of August, which removes one potential avenue for the ECB to take ­disciplinary action against unfavourable passages of prose because he is no longer under their jurisdiction.
  But they could still refuse to give him international clearance to play for Melbourne Stars in this winter's Big Bash, where KP stands to make £300,000 (including commercial ­endorsements) as an overseas player in Australia's showpiece Twenty20 competition.
  Pietersen would need a 'No Objection' certificate from the ECB, his home board, to join the slogfest in Oz.
  The same barrier could potentially deny him cashing in on another stint in the Indian Premier League, where he is almost certain to be snapped up by a franchise in the draft auction early next year.
  His first public ­appearances to air his grievances about last winter's farce are scheduled to be a BBC Radio interview, followed by a public Q&A session in Manchester, on Tuesday, ahead of his book's official release on Thursday.
  It is increasingly unlikely that he will add to his 104 England caps, not least because it is now nine months since he even faced a red ball in competitive action.
  And even KP's stint with Surrey, where he pulled in huge crowds at The Oval in his Twenty20 appearances, had an air of unconsummated ­business.
  Although he returned from a brief spell in the Caribbean Super League in time to play for Surrey in the T20 finals day, there were whispers that he cut his ­preparation fine by flying back to Britain at short notice.
  England and Wales Cricket BoardKevin PietersenAndy FlowerPaul DowntonAlastair CookMatt PriorEngland Cricket Team