Birmingham:
Andrew Strauss believes Kevin Pietersen can act as a "mentor" to an
inexperienced England one-day side despite his own sometimes difficult
relationship with the star batsman.
Pietersen was briefly cast
into the international wilderness last year after being accused of
sending derogatory text messages about then England captain Strauss to
South Africa players.
England lost that Test series to the
Proteas and Strauss, who`d been struggling for runs, promptly retired
from all senior cricket -- a decision he insisted had nothing to do with
the fall-out from the controversy sparked by Pietersen, the man he
succeeded as England skipper.
Pietersen, however, was soon back
in the England fold and now finds himself the senior player in a one-day
squad where his fellow recent Ashes-winners Alastair Cook, now the
regular captain, Ian Bell, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann
have all been rested ahead of the return Test series in Australia
starting in November.
England are 1-0 down in a five-match
series, with their convincing 88-run loss at Old Trafford separating
rain-ruined no results at Headingley and again at Edgbaston on
Wednesday.
But whatever the outcome of the series, which
continues in Cardiff on Saturday, Strauss believes the experience of
playing alongside Pietersen, whose 2013 has been blighted by injuries,
can only benefit the likes of 22-year-old all-rounder Ben Stokes.
"He
can be really good with young players, actually," Strauss told
reporters at Edgbaston on Thursday when asked about the 33-year-old
Pietersen.
"I think it`s good that he`s playing this one-day
series, and him opening the batting in one-day cricket is an interesting
and potentially quite explosive option for England to use.
"Given that he`s had injuries, and whatever, it`s quite nice for him to have a good run of cricket.
"I hope he is playing that mentoring role and playing it well."
Strauss
added: "I suppose Kevin is a complicated character. But he can be
fantastic, really good and engaged in the dressing room and really go
out of his way to help other people at times.
"You want to see
him do that, because he`s at the stage of his career now where he`s got a
lot to offer those young players coming through -- and they all look up
to him as well.
"So it`s good to hear that he`s doing that."
Only
slightly more than 15 overs were possible at Edgbaston on Wednesday,
but that was enough time for often erratic Australia fast bowler
Mitchell Johnson to bounce out Pietersen, having dismissed Jonathan
Trott for a duck in Manchester.
