It wasn't popular, but England were right to keep Pietersen in the cold

Pietersen has burnt too many bridges and betrayed too many colleagues to be granted a free pass back into the England team. His ability remains beyond question, but it must be set against a lengthy track record of disruption and deceit. If fashioning a successful sports team was simply about picking the best players and telling them to get on with it, anyone could do it. Instead, Strauss, in his new role of director of cricket at the ECB, must balance the qualities of one individual against the needs and concerns of a much wider group of players, many of whom have had negative experiences of Pietersen in the past and have consequently turned resolutely against him.

In that context, Strauss took the only decision that was open to him. Even Michael Vaughan, one of Pietersen’s staunchest supporters, was forced to concede that a number of England’s senior players, including captain Alastair Cook, would be uncomfortable if the Surrey batsman was thrust back into their midst.

Some will say that you cannot have players dictating selection policy, and to a degree they are right. But when relationships have become so fractured that the presence of one player is detrimental to the whole of the team environment, it is hard to see how that player can be selected. That is especially true of cricket, a sport that requires its participants to spend weeks, sometimes months, in each other’s company. Once team spirit is lost, the rot quickly sets in.

It is also crucial that the figures in authority have each other’s trust and respect, and that is clearly not the case when it comes to Strauss and Pietersen. There is history between the pair as Strauss was the England skipper that Pietersen criticised in a series of mocking text messages that were sent to South African duo Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers during a Test match between the sides in 2012.

That was the catalyst for Pietersen’s exile from the England team, and while there have been plenty of other explosive incidents since, from the ‘detachment’ that negatively impacted upon his performances in the most recent Ashes series in Australia to the explosive autobiography in which he tore into former team-mate Matt Prior and head coach Andy Flower, it remains the core of the ongoing conflict that came to a head at the start of the week.

Strauss has been promoted to a wide-ranging role that requires him to steer English cricket through a period that promises to be extremely testing. The Test side has just limped to a tame series draw against a weak West Indies team, and is facing the embarrassment of a home Ashes defeat to Australia this summer. The one-day set-up even worse, with the recent World Cup representing a complete embarrassment.

In such a situation, it would be easy to conclude that you cannot afford to jettison your best batsman. Easy, but wrong. If Strauss is to successfully overhaul English cricket, he cannot be seen to be in thrall to the player who did most to create the chaos and upheaval that has blighted the last couple of years. And from a personal perspective, given that his neck will be on the line if things do not improve, it is important that he conveys authority to people he believes in.

The one area where I do have sympathy with Pietersen is the ill-advised intervention of Colin Graves at the beginning of March, which clearly provided false hope and persuaded him to walk away from his lucrative contract in the Indian Premier League and return to the county game.

Graves, speaking in his role as chairman-elect at the ECB, told Pietersen that he would be considered for a recall if he demonstrated his commitment by scoring runs for Surrey. While Strauss was closing the door on him on Tuesday, he was racking up an unbeaten 355 at The Oval. Little wonder he used his Daily Telegraph column the following day to outline his feelings of betrayal.

Graves, who recently stood down as the chairman of Yorkshire CCC, was at best misguided and at worst completely disingenuous when he made promises he must have known he was not going to be able to keep. The remit of his role was never intended to run to team selection, and he backed the ECB into a corner that has caused Strauss reputational damage, even though the mess was not of the new director of cricket’s making. If anyone should be hanging their head at this week’s events, it is Graves.

But that does not alter the fact that Pietersen’s presence would do more harm than good. He has had his chance and wasted it, largely because his ego proved too large for the confines of the England dressing room. Cricket is often described as a team game played by 11 individuals. That is fine. But at some stage, individual obsessions have to be shelved for the good of the group. Pietersen’s tragedy is that he was incapable of making that concession.

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MIDDLESBROUGH’S 2-1 win at Brentford was a wonderful advert for the play-offs, packed with drama, excitement and pulsating attacking football. Seven days on from the first leg, however, and let’s hope the return game at the Riverside is a damn sight more dull.

The Teessiders have given themselves a great chance of making the final at Wembley, and while plenty of supporters will be biting their nails and waiting for a ‘Typical Boro’ moment to unfold tonight, they should take solace in the identity of the man in the home dug out.

Aitor Karanka has barely put a foot wrong this season, and his decision to take his players to a training camp in Spain ahead of the first leg was an astute move. Rest assured, he will have been equally as meticulous and innovative ahead of tonight’s decider.