London, March 25 (IANS): Surrey County Cricket Club on Wednesday confirmed the signing of sacked England batsman Kevin Pietersen on a contract that will see the player representing the club this summer.

Pietersen will be available for Surrey's opening game of the County Championship season on Sunday April 19th. The right-handed batsman obtained the permission of his Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad to play for the English side.

The move is viewed by the cricketing fraternity to be Pietersen's latest effort to earn a recall to the England team. He was sacked by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after getting into repeated confrontations with his teammates and coaches.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be back at Surrey. It's a club very close to my heart and Alec Stewart, Graham Ford and everyone at the club has been exceptionally supportive," Pietersen said in a release on Wednesday.

"There is a fantastic group of lads here and hopefully we can deliver what the great Surrey fans want to see - lots of runs and comprehensive victories."

Alec Stewart, director of cricket at Surrey CCC commented: "A Kevin Pietersen with ambitions to play for England and a real determination to score big runs for Surrey will be a huge asset to us."