Kevin Pietersen welcomes hostile crowds and prefers that they boo him.

KEVIN Pietersen has a message for Australian fans — if you want the exiled England star to make runs for Melbourne Stars this summer, boo him.

Pietersen was on Monday night confirmed as the Big Bash League’s biggest marque signing and told the Herald Sun spin king Shane Warne played a major role in him choosing to sign a two-year deal with the Stars.

The flamboyant batsman has become world cricket’s No.1 gun-for-hire since being axed by the Poms in a bitter fallout to last summer’s 5-0 Ashes whitewash.

Pietersen has since captained Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League, is averaging 23 runs for Surrey in England’s T20 Blast and will next be unveiled by St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League.

He revealed a handful of Big Bash clubs chased him but said it was a “no-brainer” to join Melbourne’s green team, where he will pocket up to $250,000 — including external marketing payments — for the compact eight-round tournament, which the Stars will launch in Adelaide on December 18.

“To be fair, I’ve gone pretty well in Australia. So I don’t know if the cheering will do me any good, if I get any,” Pietersen said.

“The boos have worked well for me throughout my career in Australia, so if they want me to perform — boo me.”

Pietersen, 34, has never scored a century at the MCG but averages 44.25 in all forms of cricket at the Stars’ home ground.

He follows retired South African Jacques Kallis (Sydney Thunder) to the domestic league, which boomed last summer on the back of a shift to free-to-air coverage.

“Warnie was desperate for me to sign with the Stars and I’m a good mate of Warnie and I spent a lot of time with him here in summer in the UK, ” Pietersen said.

Kevin Pietersen with close mate, Warnie.

“He’s a superstar man and a real good mate of mine, so for me it’s a no-brainer, a no-brainer (to join the Stars).”

“I know the ethos around the Stars is to have fun, enjoy themselves and that’s my game, I’ve done that my whole career.”

Pietersen, who was England’s leading run scorer with 294 in the Ashes, said he watched last summer’s Big Bash on TV but did not make it to any games.

“I had an opportunity to pop down there last summer but I sort of stayed away from Australian crowds for obvious reasons,” he said.

“I think the standard is pretty good. The one thing you get in Australia is you get fighters.”

“You get that southern hemisphere mentality where it’s win at all costs, it’s competitive, it’s played well, it’s played hard, it’s played fair and I grew up in that environment in South Africa.”

The megastar who boasts nearly two million Twitter followers — more than Warne — said his fortunes in the middle would hinge on preparation.

“Clearly, I want to try and score some runs because I’m a high performer and I set myself high standards,” he said.

“But I think the key to me playing these tournaments is to help out youngsters and also experienced players,” he said.

Pietersen will partner big-hitting Victorians Glenn Maxwell and Cameron White and said it would “be amazing” to deliver the Stars their first title after three successive semi-final meltdowns.

And he also has a request for the MCG curator.

“I hope they bring the boundaries in a little bit because the square boundaries are a bit too far, and that’s for fielding. I don’t like running around in the field,” he said.