LONDON- Kevin Pietersen, England's rogue batsman and outcast following the debacle during the South Africa series that led to his omission from the team, has not been awarded an ECB central contract for the upcoming 2012-12 season.The crux of the issue between Pietersen and the ECB, namely head coach Andy Flower and former captain Andrew Strauss, came to a head during the Headingly Test against South Africa as evidence of derogatory text messages sent from Pietersen to South African players surfaced leading to the start batsman, who crunched a scintillating 149 in the first innings for England, missing out at Lord's in the 3rd Test despite a video apology he released on YouTube.The ECB are eager to press the fact that talks between the England management, including new skipper Alastair Cook, and Kevin are ongoing: "In respect to Kevin Pietersen discussions are ongoing and they remain private." Despite the fact that deep rifts have clearly emerged between the two, some efforts towards reciprocity are thought to have been undertaken last weekend between the Pietersen and Flower. England can add to the list of centrally contracted players at any time, so there is hope of a return for KP, but the date for the tour to India is fast approaching. The squad announcement for said tour has been delayed to allow talks between KP and Flower to continue while in the meantime Pietersen is heading off to Sri Lanka for the World T20: not to play but to commentate for ESPN STAR cricket.England Central Contracts: James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.England Incremental Contracts: Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Craig Kieswetter, Graham Onions.