Andrew Strauss yesterday spoke of his hurt at how one of the greatest eras in English cricket history has been tarnished by the Kevin Pietersen affair, but held out an olive branch to the man who savaged his team’s successes.
The former England captain, who won the Ashes home and away and led his team to the top of the world Test rankings before resigning two years ago, believes Pietersen’s autobiography ‘dispelled the magic’ that surrounded his many triumphs and that the pride he felt had been ‘diminished’.
Yet Strauss believes time could heal the festering wounds which have been inflicted by Pietersen’s bitter attack and that the warring parties in England’s great internal conflict might even one day be able to bury the hatchet.
‘The fact that there was so much negative comment from Kevin about such a successful period for English cricket was hurtful for all of us that had been part of it,’ said Strauss yesterday as he opened up on the affair for the first time.
‘That is why the pride feels diminished. We all worked incredibly hard to achieve something special and it doesn’t seem so special anymore. I still have great memories of that time as does everyone involved, hopefully including Kevin, but the problem comes when there is so much emotion over things.’
Strauss is a central figure in one of cricket’s greatest controversies, having been the captain who was the subject of ‘provocative’ texts sent by Pietersen to South African opponents in 2012 at the start of his big falling-out with England.
And the depth of his feeling over the issues created by Pietersen towards the end of his captaincy was exposed last summer when, in his new role with Sky, Strauss was picked up by microphones calling him a ‘complete c***’ when off air.
He chooses his language much more carefully now but it is clear the bad feeling lingers.
‘It’s sad that Kevin, who had an outstanding England career, chose to concentrate on negative subjects rather than positive ones.
‘Everyone was dreading what was going to be in the book and we had to go through that crazy circus for a couple of weeks but it’s over now. It’s finished. Now everyone can move on, including Kevin.
‘The cloud has now lifted and despite all the fallouts and mud-slinging I sincerely hope over time everyone can come back together. This is a moment in time and if everyone can remember the good things we will all be better off for it.’
Strauss remains embarrassed that his comment about Pietersen, picked up at Lord’s while he was in conversation with fellow commentator Nick Knight, became public knowledge.
‘I don’t think it was my proudest moment and I didn’t feel good about it,’ he said back at Lord’s. ‘I tried to get hold of KP afterwards to say so but couldn’t. That sort of stuff is no good for anyone.
‘But I’ve seen Kevin a few times since then and I think long-term we’ll be fine. I don’t think either of us really want to be estranged from each other. What’s done is done and it’s water under the bridge. We’ve got a lot of life to live and there’s no point us creeping round each other.’
Strauss has admiration for the way his successor as England captain Alastair Cook dealt with the aftermath of the thrashing in Australia and the sacking of Pietersen that led to the joyless tone of his book.
‘You talk to a lot of people behind the scenes and they all say Cooky has been phenomenal in the dressing room this summer,’ said Strauss.
‘He has stepped up to the plate after last winter and ultimately when you’re leading people you have to show you really are willing to lead.
‘I think Cook has done that and he will have gained a lot of respect from players over how he went about things this summer under incredible pressure.
‘He’s got an opportunity over the next 18 months to create an incredible legacy for himself as England captain. He just needs to go out and do it.
’That will start with the one-day series in Sri Lanka next week and beyond to the World Cup.
‘If you’re sitting in a meeting room saying “let’s design a schedule that gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup”, then this is pretty perfect,’ added Strauss.
‘A complete focus on one-day cricket, then getting used to Australian conditions in the triangular series and then the World Cup. They don’t have any excuses and they can’t say they’re using Sri Lanka as a building process. They need to win there and win well.’ — Daily Mail