KP praises Strauss as director

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has shared kind words about former skipper Andrew Strauss, saying he’s done a good job in his role as director of the ECB.

The pair have a notoriously contentious relationship, harking back to when Pietersen sent a text message to South African players calling Strauss an unflattering word.

Strauss, for his part, was later caught calling Pietersen a very rude word when he thought his commentary mic was off.

But KP says he’s put all that behind him as he plies his trade in T20 leagues around the world, and has generally been impressed with Strauss’ ECB efforts.

Pietersen told the Cricket Australia website: “He’s actually doing a very good job for England. He’s stuck to his principles and he’s not deviated.

“And England have done OK; they’ve won against Australia, they’ve beaten South Africa in South Africa and they’ve got a huge series right now against India.

“I think he’s done an OK job. He’s a current player and I like that about ‘Straussy’. He’s played over 100 Test matches and so he gets the modern-day thinking.

“He doesn’t really get the shorter formats of the game because he hasn’t played too much of that, but he does get the modern-day way, which I think is really good for a position like that.

“I’m thumbs up with Straussy. We’ve had our issues but everyone has issues with certain people. It doesn’t bother me now.

“I live with a smile on my face all day, every day.”

Latest