Not Kevin Pietersen, England cricket is the victim: Andrew Strauss

It has been a tough week for England cricket and its supporters. Sacked from the team after a humiliating 0-5 Ashes series loss against arch-rivals Australia, Kevin Pietersen has taken swipe at many stakeholders associated with the English game in his book, KP: The Autobiography.

Former skipper, Andrew Strauss, who captained Pietersen for a significant period of time and whose relations with the batsman soured after Pietersen sent text messages about him to South Africa's players, during their tour of England in 2012, feels that the sacked batsman's tirade against some of his former team-mates might have a potential negative impact on captain Alastair Cook's attempts at forging a new team.

Speaking to Skysports.com, Strauss was worried about the harm that Pietersen's comments might cause to the England team in future. "A lot of this that's going on at the moment is madness,'' Strauss said. "There's been a lot of rumour, innuendo and opinion. I prefer to stick with the facts. All this tit-for-tat stuff, I don't think really helps the England cricket team.

"The victim here really isn't Kevin Pietersen, or (Andy) Flower or (Matt) Prior or anyone; it's actually the England cricket team and Alastair Cook and [returning coach] Peter Moores who've got to try to take the side forward," he added.

Pietersen has spoken about the 'bullying' culture that was prevalent in the England team that he was part of and especially signaled out the senior players, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, of abusing the fielders for every small lapse on the ground. This, Strauss said, was a worrying aspect as the team under Cook looked to go forward.

"I think good team spirit is all about people having a unity of purpose - we're all trying to achieve something - (and) I believe that's what we had with the England cricket team,'' said Strauss.

"That's what took us to number one in the world. That idea that the team should come first was central to what we did, and something Andy Flower was very conscious of and protective over. It didn't matter who fell foul of that - anyone who was testing that would be dealt with accordingly, and rightly so," he added.

Specifically targeted by the sacked batsman in his book has been former wicket-keeper batsman, Matthew Prior, who he labelled as 'back-stabber' and a 'bad influence' on the team. Pietersen also took umbrage at former head-coach, Andy Flower, who, he said, didn't want him in the team. Strauss though wasn't prepared to accept KP's views.

"Matt Prior had a massive impact on the English cricket team, both with the bat but also behind the scenes - and was very much the embodiment of the culture we were trying to produce ... one of putting the team first," Strauss said.

On Flower, the former England captain was equally assertive. "Andy Flower is a guy of complete integrity. If you look at [his] record as coach, it's second to none. He's achieved phenomenal things, and rightly should be regarded as one of England's great coaches," he noted.