TEST and one-day captain Alastair Cook is hopeful that Kevin Pietersen will return to England duty.

Pietersen was omitted from the Test squad for the winter tour of India following a text message dispute.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials are in Sri Lanka holding talks with the batsman, who is covering the World Twenty20 for television.
“Time hopefully will be a healer and we will be able to move on, but the issues will have to be resolved,” said Cook.
“If the issues can be resolved, Kevin has said he is available for selection, but at the moment that can’t happen.
“Meetings are still going on in Sri Lanka at the moment.”
ECB chief executive David Collier and England Cricket managing director Hugh Morris have spoken to the Surrey batsman in Sri Lanka.
Cook, who has also met Pietersen and been involved in other meetings, admits England’s hopes of winning the four-Test series in India starting in November have been hit by Pietersen’s absence.
“That is a given,” said Cook. “Kevin has proved in all conditions around the world that he is a world-class player. His record suggests that in all forms of the game.
“It is a sad circumstance. He will be missed but it gives opportunities to other players and they can do well. There is no reason these guys can’t fill the gap there.”
The uncapped pair of Nick Compton, who averaged 99 for Somerset in the County Championship this summer, and Yorkshire’s Joe Root were called up to fill the void left by Pietersen’s absence and former captain Andrew Strauss’s retirement.
Six years ago Cook was called out to India as a late replacement for Marcus Trescothick, and scored a century on his debut.
“We are going on this tour to win. We have got to look forward now as a side and not back,” added Cook.
“There is no reason these guys can’t fill the gap there. Just like when Tres came home from India in 2006, he would certainly have been missed.
“The best advice I can give is that the game doesn’t change. Sometimes as players you put on an England shirt and think you have to play a different way, and you don’t.
“I haven’t seen too much of Joe Root play but I have heard glowing reports and everyone talks about his temperament. One thing you definitely need as an international cricketer is a good temperament.”

England Test squad for India: Alastair Cook (Essex, capt.), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Nick Compton (Somerset), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Monty Panesar (Sussex), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wkp.), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire). (BBC Sport)