England director of cricket Andrew Strauss says Kevin Pietersen is not part of his selection plans for the summer and adds there is a "massive trust issue" between himself and Pietersen.
Below is a full transcript of the interview Sky Sports' Tim Abraham conducted with Strauss at Lord's on Tuesday:
PIETERSEN
People are crying out for some clarity on your stance and his future. I gather there was a meeting last night, but what did you tell him?
“I think the first thing to say is that now is time for honest and open conversation about Kevin Pietersen. No one has ever doubted Kevin Pietersen’s abilities as a player, he has been a phenomenal player for England for a long period of time, his record stacks up to anyone’s in English cricket and he should be very proud of his record.
“But over months and years the trust between himself and the ECB has eroded and we are in a situation now where there is a massive trust issue between Kevin and I. I wish it was not the case and I am not apportioning blame, it is just a fact and that is the reality. And because of that we have decided that it is not in the best short-term interest of the side for him to be in that team.
“I went to see him last night to let him know that he is not part of our plans this summer. I cannot give him any guarantees about the future, but he is not banned from the side. No one knows what is going to happen in the future.”
What was his reaction when you told him that?
“As I said, no one has ever had any qualms about his capabilities as a player, he is a phenomenal cricketer, but we can’t have a situation where the ECB and Kevin Pietersen don’t trust each other. Everyone knows there is no trust out there and I think we need to be really open and honest about that and accept that fact.
“Now if there is a way to build trust, then let’s look at it, but at the moment we are quite estranged. This is not about Kevin Pietersen, this is about the future of English cricket. I know for a fact from my time playing cricket for England that trust is absolutely imperative in any team environment and that is going to be crucial going forward.
“And my job is to look at the future of English cricket and develop a side that is capable of winning important series and tournaments in the next four years. And that is what I am going to concentrate on doing.”
Everyone wants clarity Andrew, so are you saying there is no way back for Kevin Pietersen then?
“No that is not what I said, I said that he was not barred from playing for England, he is not part of our plans for the summer and I can’t make any guarantees to him, or to any other player for that matter, at the end of the summer.”
You will no doubt be aware that everyone out there is saying we want to see Kevin Pietersen playing for England, he is box office and puts bums on seats. If he is one of England’s best batsmen, the punters out there are going to be saying 'why is he not in the England team?'
“Yes and I can absolutely understand people saying that, but I think that they have to also realise that trust is absolutely imperative and it isn't there at the moment - my job now is to look to the future of English cricket and try and win big events and series in any organisation and we cannot run away from the fact that trust is not there anymore. I wish it was not the case, but it is the case.
“This is a board decision and there is absolute alignment between myself, Tom Harrison and Colin Graves on this issue. My job now is to look to the future of England cricket and to develop a side that is capable of winning big global events and Ashes series.”
I guess you will stand by for some sort of sideshow going on, because if he scores runs and England are struggling against New Zealand and in the Ashes, people are again going to be crying out and asking you why Kevin Pietersen is not in the team?
“As I said, it is not about his capabilities as a player, it is about trust. We can’t build that up over the course of a few days. That is the reality, what I am trying to do is give everyone clarity today, as is the ECB, and that is what we intend to do going forward.”
MOORES DISMISSAL
What is the situation over a new coach for England after Peter Moores’s sacking?
“I think the first thing to say is that was another very difficult decision for us to make. Peter Moores has been very popular in the England dressing room. He's got a very good record of developing players, but I felt that there are some areas in international cricket where he is a little bit exposed, for me personally around tactics and strategy. I think we saw that in the World Cup a little bit and also he was undermined by the fact that he had done the job before.
"So we got to the situation where every game was a referendum on whether the coach should stay or not. And that's not fair on him and it is not fair on the players. I felt it was the right call to make and my job is to make sure I find the right coach to take England cricket forward. Obviously I've got a lot of work to do in the coming days and weeks to make sure that happens."
COACH
Jason Gillespie has been mentioned, given what he has done with Yorkshire - he has been there and done it in international cricket - is he top of your wish list?
"He's one of the candidates, absolutely. At the moment I have just been concerning myself about the process and how we go about it. Over the next few days we'll start approaching candidates.
"And basically I need to go meet and speak to them and see their philosophy on cricket, their philosophy on coaching and whether it's aligned with what I think is in the best interests of England cricket.”
Do you think there is going to be a separate coach for Test cricket and one-day internationals?
"No I don’t think so. I think there will be one over-arching coach. I think you need one person in control and in charge of that environment. And by the way I will just say that it is important that people understand that I am not going to be playing a tracksuited role. The execution of strategy is over to the captain and coach, as it always has been. It's the right way to go. We need clear role allocations, the coach and the captain go and execute and my job is to plan for the future."
COOK
How secure is Alastair Cook in his job?
“Alastair Cook has got my full backing to lead the side into the Ashes this summer. He has had a brutally tough last 18 months. Everything that has been going on with English cricket. Obviously the situation about the one-day captaincy and his own form. He turned that around in the West Indies and I think the team needs his leadership and some stability there for the coming summer. The players play for him and I think he is going to do an excellent job this summer.
So the message to him is: You are our man, certainly right through the Ashes campaign anyway?
“Absolutely. No one knows what is going to go on in the future. Alastair Cook is not going to captain England forever. This summer I am very happy with him in charge.”
SELECTION
Are you going to be a selector Andrew?
“Selection is an issue I am going to look at. I am not 100 per cent sure we have the right structure in place. But a lot of thought and effort went into providing that structure around the Schofield report a long time ago and so I think it would be wrong for me to go and charge in with an idea that was compiled on the back of a fag packet and say 'we have got to shake things up'.
“I will be part of the selection process this summer, I am going to sit in on selection, but as far as the personalities involved and the structure are concerned - it stays in place for the course of the summer and then it will be reviewed at the end of the summer.”
Presumably you would like to get involved, as you take full responsibility for how the team is doing and so you want to make sure the right players are picked? And players that get into a squad as well get their chance to play too?
“Yes absolutely and that is why we need to look at the structure. What is the best way of identifying the best talent in the county game? Who is the right person to make that decision? As we have seen in the past, often the final 11 decisions have been made by the captain and the coach.
“And that is absolutely right, they are there on the ground, they know the conditions and the side that they want. So I do not have a problem with that. It is more a case of seeing how the structure fits in together and who is responsible for what and who is accountable for what?
ROOT
And the captain obviously being involved in selection too alongside the new coach, whoever that maybe – is it the three of you together who are going to be the main decision makers?
“As I said, I think selection is something I am going to look at long term, but that is something for the end of summer. Can I just make one other point? I think you asked me something about Alastair Cook and I think it is important to mention at this stage that it is the right time for Joe Root to take on more of a leadership position and I have asked him to be vice-captain of the Test team.
“He’s got outstanding leadership capabilities and we need him to start thinking more as a captain. That is in no way a reflection by the way of the job Ian Bell has done, he has been excellent in that role by all accounts, but it’s time for Joe to step up in that regard.”
CAPTAINCY STRUCTURE
Related to that, I was going to ask you about the one-day captaincy – will there be a new one-day captain? Joe Root has been mentioned, will he be the new one-day captain?
“So it is my belief that we need far more separation between the Tests and one-day side going forward, that is going to give us the flexibility to do some things very differently in one-day cricket, and we all know that is what we need to do. We have got to do things differently, look at things differently and come up with new ideas.
“In order to do that, I think we will benefit from having a specialised one-day captain. Eoin Morgan has just taken over that role for the World Cup and I think it’s very harsh to judge him on what went on in that campaign.
“I think he’s an excellent candidate to lead England in one-day and Twenty20 cricket. He’s playing these Twenty20 competitions all round the world and is gaining knowledge from different sources and he can apply that to the England cricket team.”
So Eoin Morgan is still your man for the one-day captaincy?
“Absolutely yes.”
Now brand of cricket was mentioned a lot during the World Cup and it did look like England were just so off the pace compared to other teams. Will you have an impact or try and change the way England play their cricket or style?
“We need a strategy that keeps us ahead of the curve in international cricket, at the moment we are well behind the curve and I do not think anyone would deny that. And so everything that we do has to be aligned to that strategy. The players we pick, the type of tactics we employ have got to be designed to give us the best chance of winning the next World Cup, which is 2019. It is a four-year plan and I reckon we are going to need every one of those years.
“Look at our performances over the last five years in one-day cricket, sorry World Cups, and we have been well off the pace and I want to make sure we are not well off the pace at the next World Cup.”
And finally, there is so much in your in tray, but if you were to sum up what your role would be, what your job is, how would you sum it up yourself?
“My job is to provide a medium and a long-term plan to take England from where we are to a sustainable world-class team in all formats.”