.jpg)
DUAL Ashes winning skipper Andrew Strauss warned rushing Kevin Pietersen into England’s Test squad could upset team morale.
South African-born Pietersen’s relationship with his England team-mates has always been testy, and last summer he was sensationally dropped for sending offensive text messages about England players to the South African dressing room. Strauss, retired since August last year, said Pietersen should only be picked if England were sure dressing room factions would not return.
“Pietersen is a world-class player, one of those the Australians genuinely fear,” Strauss told The Daily Mail.
“But he must have recovered fully from his injury and everything has to be okay in the team environment.
“Given what’s gone on, it’s an important factor to think about because my experience over 15 years of cricket is that if things are not right in the dressing room, it affects how people play.
“We’ve seen over the winter at times how Australia haven’t had things right in their dressing room, and I think it’s very naive to turn a blind eye to that and say, ‘it’ll be fine.’
“Because it never is.”
Pietersen has not played any cricket since early on England’s tour of New Zealand, when he injured his knee during a warm-up match and returned home to have scans on the problem.
But the 32-year-old is reportedly set to play his first match of the summer on June 21 for Surrey against Yorkshire and if that’s the case he’ll have two first-class matches before the Ashes start on July 10.
South African-born Pietersen’s relationship with his England team-mates has always been testy, and last summer he was sensationally dropped for sending offensive text messages about England players to the South African dressing room. Strauss, retired since August last year, said Pietersen should only be picked if England were sure dressing room factions would not return.
“Pietersen is a world-class player, one of those the Australians genuinely fear,” Strauss told The Daily Mail.
“But he must have recovered fully from his injury and everything has to be okay in the team environment.
“Given what’s gone on, it’s an important factor to think about because my experience over 15 years of cricket is that if things are not right in the dressing room, it affects how people play.
“We’ve seen over the winter at times how Australia haven’t had things right in their dressing room, and I think it’s very naive to turn a blind eye to that and say, ‘it’ll be fine.’
“Because it never is.”
Pietersen has not played any cricket since early on England’s tour of New Zealand, when he injured his knee during a warm-up match and returned home to have scans on the problem.
But the 32-year-old is reportedly set to play his first match of the summer on June 21 for Surrey against Yorkshire and if that’s the case he’ll have two first-class matches before the Ashes start on July 10.
