1980: Born June 27 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to an Afrikaans father and an English mother.

1997-98: Makes first-class debut for Natal as an off-spinning all-rounder.

2001: Joins Nottinghamshire with a view to qualifying as an England player, having become frustrated with the quota selection system in South Africa.

2003: Averages more than 50 for the third season running but becomes disenchanted with his county employers and threatens to sue for unfair dismissal, even though relegated Nottinghamshire insist he has not been sacked.

2003-04: Stars for England A in Malaysia and India.

2004: Remains a Nottinghamshire player and helps his team return to the top flight of the County Championship at the first attempt.

September: Selected for the troubled one-day international tour of Zimbabwe even though his qualification period for eligibility is not complete until October.

October: Before travelling to Namibia and Zimbabwe, quits Nottinghamshire for Hampshire.

2005: January - Joins the England squad for the ODI series against his native South Africa.

February - Registers maiden, unbeaten century with 108 in the second match in Bloemfontein. Scores further centuries in East London and Centurion.

Becomes the fastest man in history to reach 500 one-day international runs.

May 2005: Overlooked for Test series against Bangladesh, but named in England's 25-man development squad and one-day squad.

July 14: Named in England Test squad ahead of Graham Thorpe.

July 24: Scores 57 and 64 on debut but Australia crush England by 239 runs.

August 7: Contributes 71 off 76 balls in the first innings as England win by two runs in the second Test at Edgbaston.

September 12: Scores century to rescue England, who claim the Ashes with a draw in the final Test at The Oval.

2006: March - Fined 30% of his match fee for dissent after a dismissal in the first Test against India. Equals Viv Richards' record of 21 innings to reach 1,000 ODI runs.

May: Becomes the first batsman since 1990 to score a century in three successive Test innings on English soil with 142 against Sri Lanka.

2007: January - England's best player in the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia, scoring 490 runs and averaging over 50.

April: Scores 104 off 122 against Australia, the first World Cup century by an Englishman since 1996. In England's final match against the West Indies, Pietersen makes 100 from 91.

May: Posts his highest score of 226 in the second Test against the West Indies at Headingley.

2008: June - Uses the innovative 'switch hit' in the ODI series against New Zealand - smashing Scott Styris for two sixes. Appointed temporary ODI captain after Paul Collingwood is suspended for four matches.

August 3 - Replaces Michael Vaughan as Test captain and Collingwood as one-day skipper.

August 8 - Scores century in debut innings as Test captain.

September 3 - Captains England to a 4-0 thrashing of South African in the one-day series.

2009: January 1 - Reports of a rift between Pietersen and coach Peter Moores surface.

January 7 - Resigns as England captain.

February - Royal Bangalore Challengers pay a record 1.5m US dollars for Pietersen's services in the IPL auction.

July 22 - With England leading the Ashes 1-0 after two Tests, Pietersen is ruled out of the remainder of the series because of an Achilles injury.

2010: February-March - Struggles for form, particularly against left-arm spin, on the tour of Bangladesh with just 69 from his first seven innings.

April-May - Enjoys a fine tournament as England win the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, with an unbeaten 73 against Pakistan and 47 in the final victory over Australia.

June 17 - Announces he will not be renewing his Hampshire contract.

June 22 - Plays his 100th ODI against Australia.

August 11 - Left out of Hampshire's squad for Twenty20 finals day.

August 31 - A post on his Twitter account says that he is to be dropped from England's limited-overs matches against Pakistan and has signed for Surrey.

November 2010-January 2011 - On top form in England's Ashes series win in Australia, with the highlight a career-best 227 in Adelaide.

2011: March 7 - Injury forces him out of England's World Cup campaign.

July - Passes 6,000 Test runs with his third Test double-hundred, against India at Lord's.

2012: May 23 - Fined by the ECB for a Twitter outburst against Sky commentator Nick Knight.

May 31 - Retires from one-day and Twenty20 internationals.