Michael Vaughan backs Kevin Pietersen's claim of England bowlers being an intimidating clique

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has backed out-of-favour batsman Kevin Pietersen's claims that the bowlers in the national squad were an intimidating clique, adding they could be "disrespectful".

In an article for The Telegrapgh, Vaughan said the "bowlers' cabal" has been a "problem for several years".

He made a particular mention of former off-spinner Graeme Swann and fast bowler Stuart Broad, saying that they have been disrespectful to the fielders.

Vaughan, 39, who captained Pietersen in England's 2005 Ashes-winning team, said fielders don't drop catches on purpose, and no bowler would like to be questioned after bowling a bad ball. Vaughan said he had encountered a similar situation at Yorkshire, where he would hate fielding because he was "scared" of making a mistake.

He said it was ironical that James Anderson has spoken about how difficult it was for him when he first played for England, suggesting that those coming into the squad recently, were probably being given the rough end of the stick by him.

Nottinghamshire fast bowler Ajmal Shahzad, who played one Test and 11 one-day internationals for England, agreed with Pietersen's assessment of cliques in the dressing room. He seemed to agree with Vaughan that there were maybe two or three cliques who would stick together.

Pietersen had his England central contract terminated in the wake of the 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia, as the England and Wales Cricket Board set out to create a new "team ethic".