KP left out in the cold

Kevin Pietersen's future as an England player remains in the balance with talks "ongoing" after he was not handed a central contract.

The ECB issued its list of centrally contracted players on Friday evening and the South African-born batsman's name was conspicuous by its absence.
Under normal circumstances, the 32-year-old would have been the first name on the list but he is currently out of the England picture after being dropped for sending 'provocative' texts about his England colleagues to members of the South African side.
The Surrey man has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this summer as he retired from one-day cricket back in May, only to back-track and make himself available for all forms of the game.
However, the situation regarding 'trust' in the England dressing room, which may or may not have hastened Andrew Strauss's decision to retire, remains an issue.
The party to tour India this winter is set to be named next week and, having missed out on selection for the Twenty20 World Cup, it remains open to debate as to whether Pietersen will be included, but the ECB does have the right to add another player to its centrally contracted list at any time.
There were few surprises in the list of contracted players, with Graham Onions earning an incremental contact after his stellar work for Durham this summer and national selector Geoff Miller was full of praise for the injury-plagued paceman.
"Congratulations to Graham Onions, the one addition to the list of players who have been awarded increment contracts, in recognition of the effort he has put in since his return from injury in 2011 and an indication that we feel he has plenty to offer England in the coming months," he said.
ECB central contracts:

James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Matt Prior (Sussex), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire).

Incremental contracts:
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Graham Onions (Durham).