England captaincy choices "fascinating" - Pietersen

After being passed over for the role of England ODI captain despite making his interest in the position known, Kevin Pietersen will mark his return from injury by captaining Surrey in this week's three-day game against Cambridge MCCU.

Pietersen, who was back in the nets at The Oval during last week's County Championship game against Leicestershire, will captain a young Surrey side featuring at least one player who will be making his first-class debut.

Pietersen had expressed his desire to captain England again, at least in ODIs, before that position went to Alastair Cook, with Stuart Broad named as Twenty20 captain in a major shake-up of the limited-overs setup.

Playing as stand-in captain for a Surrey side packed with youngsters while many of the seniors are rested will be no consolation, but if Pietersen felt any bitterness at his England snub he didn't show it, calling the decision to have different captains in each of the game's formats "fascinating".

"It's fascinating, we've now got three captains," he said. "It's the first time it's ever been done but they are young with fresh ideas and Andy [Flower] has had some good ideas so let's hope this is another one. The three are going to have to put a lot of work in and no-one knows whether it's going to work, so let's see how it goes."

Pietersen has not played since he withdrew from the national squad during the World Cup immediately after England's thrilling six-run victory over South Africa in Chennai, complaining that the pain of a hernia that he had sustained during the one-day series in Australia had become unbearable. He returned to England for surgery and after a period of rehabilitation returned to light practice, followed by more extensive net sessions.

Following their match against Cambridge MCCU, Surrey have a County Championship clash with Essex at Whitgift School, starting May 18, and if his recovery continues unhindered he could slot straight back into England's middle order for the first Test against Sri Lanka on May 26.

Pietersen wants England ODI captaincy

Kevin Peterson has expressed his desire to captain England again, saying he had given the option serious thought since rumours emerged that Andrew Strauss may give up the limited-overs post. More than two years have passed since the end of Pietersen's brief and tempestuous reign as England captain, and he has now stated his readiness to have another crack at the role, at least in ODIs.

"If the one-day job becomes available, I would ­definitely be up for it," Pietersen said at the launch of the new England ODI shirt. "A lot of water has passed under the bridge since I last did it and it's something I've thought about in the past few weeks since the rumours surfaced about Andy Strauss stepping down.

"Second time around I think I could do a real good job as I'd be older and wiser, and would handle a few things a lot differently. I didn't think I was too bad first time around - we had our moments against South Africa, and it took a century of freakish brilliance from Sachin Tendulkar to deny us a famous Test win in Chennai.

"So if the opportunity came up and I was asked I would say, 'Thank you very much, I would love to have another go'."

Pietersen is the second England player to throw his hat into the ring for the job, should it become available, after the opening batsman Alastair Cook made similarly hopeful noises last week. Reflecting on the circumstances of his departure from the job in January 2009, Pietersen said he had been hurt, but has now moved on. He also said there would be no problem forming a strong leadership axis with the England coach, Andy Flower.

"I wasn't too despondent about why it ended, or even how it ended, but I was certainly hurt by some of the negative publicity which followed. Some of the nonsense about a divided camp, and players being for or against me, was deeply hurtful and it took me a while to get over it," said Pietersen.

"But time's a great healer and I'm ready to do it again if the opportunity arose. I respected Andy Flower as a player, and as a coach I respect him more than ever now.

"He's done an amazing job since he took over and he deserves all the plaudits. He has moulded the team in a very respectful manner, in an atmosphere where everyone is entitled to voice an opinion - whether you have played 100 Test matches or just one. It's a happy ship, Andy keeps it on a very even keel, and my ­relationship with him is absolutely fine - both on a technical level and as a person."

Cook and Broad new England captains

Alastair Cook has been named England's new one-day international captain and Stuart Broad has been handed the leadership of the Twenty20 side in a major shake-up of the limited-overs teams. Andrew Strauss announced his decision to stand down as ODI captain to focus on his Test career, while Paul Collingwood's run in the Twenty20 job is over as England look to the future.

It means that England will have a different captain for each format of the game. Cook has previously led the team on the tour to Bangladesh last year when Strauss was rested, but for Broad it is his first captaincy role at a senior level and he'll now be at the helm when England defend their Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka next year.

"It has never been tried before so I am excited by the opportunity it provides us with," Andy Flower, the England team director said of the three captains. "We don't know 100% whether it will work and be the most efficient system but we're going to give it a try."

On the Bangladesh tour Cook made scores of 64, 60 and 32 in a 3-0 victory in the ODIs, before anchoring England's twin Test wins with a pair of centuries at Chittagong and Dhaka. Despite the relative paucity of the opposition, the challenge he faced in unfamiliar conditions was immense, not to mention the ignominy he would have faced had he failed to complete a clean sweep of five international wins out of five.

Despite some doubts about the speed and power of Cook's strokeplay, Strauss's departure from the limited-overs scene creates a vacancy for an opener who can be relied upon to bat through an innings, and besides, with a powerful cut and an aggressive slog-sweep, Cook himself believes he has the ability to build on an ODI record of 858 runs at 33.00, with one century against India in 2007.

"I've worked hard on my limited overs cricket in recent times - I've never seen myself as a Test batsman exclusively and I know I have a lot to offer strategically and as a top order batsman in one-day cricket," he said. "I'm excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain.

"I will continue to work closely with Andrew and also Stuart as we form a leadership team across all forms of the game. We have the chance to work together and share ideas which will benefit our cricket in all three formats."

Collingwood, who captained England's Twenty20 side on 30 occasions and oversaw England's successful World Twenty20 campaign in 2010, retired from Test cricket following the Ashes earlier this year but remains available for the limited-overs side. Broad will make his debut as captain when he leads England's Twenty20 side against Sri Lanka in Bristol on June 25.

"It's a huge privilege to be named England Twenty20 captain and form part of a leadership team that I've no doubt will work well together with a great deal of synergy," Broad said. "I've always enjoyed playing the shortest form of the game and I relish the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as England's Twenty20 captain. As captain the chance to work closely with Andy Flower is an extremely exciting one and as current World Twenty20 champions I know there is a real responsibility to continue the team's recent success."

Strauss, meanwhile, has decided that, at the age of 34 and with four years to go until the 2015 World Cup, the time is right to follow the example of many leading cricketers of recent times, and retire from ODIs to concentrate on Tests. A tough home summer against Sri Lanka and India is looming, but the long-term goal is a repeat of his home and away Ashes wins, with the next series coming back-to-back in 2013-14.

"I've enjoyed my time as England One-Day captain immensely and I'm extremely proud of the strides we've made in limited overs cricket over the past two years," he said. "We still have a long way to go if we're to achieve our goal of winning ICC global events and I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and ensure someone else takes up that challenge.

"Retiring from one-day cricket will also enable me to focus solely on the Test captaincy and our ongoing development in the Test arena as we also strive to be the top ranked team in world cricket.

"I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England's development across all forms of the game. Both Alastair and Stuart are proven world-class cricketers and both have outstanding leadership qualities which will ensure England's success for many years to come."