The Ashes series next summer might come too soon for Kevin Pietersen to be welcomed back into the England team, according to Australia coach Mickey Arthur.
Pietersen is exiled from the national side after he was dropped for the Lord’s Test against South Africa in the wake of text messages he sent to members of the opposition during the Second Investec Test at Headingley.
Pietersen could meet England Test captain Andrew Strauss as early as Sunday but Arthur, who coached South Africa before taking the Aussie job last year, believes Pietersen faces a long road back.
“It takes time to mend,” Arthur said. “They say trust and reputation takes a year to two years to really build, and you can lose it in two minutes. I think that’s where they’ve got to with KP now.
“England have dealt with it in the best possible way. It’s been ruthless and it’s been very good. It obviously upset their team a bit but Jonny Bairstow came in and got 95 and 54 at Lord’s and played really well, so another guy steps up to the plate and does the job.
“No one guy is bigger than the team and England must have thought that KP had got to that point. It was tough for them, it was pretty unsettling, but I think they’ve handled it very well.”
Arthur’s new team meet his old one in three Tests in Australia later this year and he was impressed by the way his former pupils bowled to England’s opening batsmen during South Africa’s 2-0 series triumph.
“Morne Morkel created a lot of problems from around the wicket, and that is certainly a line we’d explore to attack against England,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo.
Read More
MORE ABOUT