KP and England may never live together again

Joe Root is a good batsman who plays technically correct and will eventually mature into a fine England opener.

At the beginning of 2011 we expected him to just play a handful of games for Yorkshire to get the feel of county cricket but he performed so well that he stayed in the team all through the season and progressed in 2012 to play in all forms of the game.

He is confident and competent against all types of bowling but in my opinion England should have left him to play another year in county cricket, honing his game against the new ball. We have been playing second division cricket at Yorkshire. There will be better bowlers to come next summer. From what I have seen of him if the ball moves around early on then he needs to work a bit more on his footwork.

But England have been pushed into making this decision. People were focusing on Joe playing for England after next summer. Everyone expected Andrew Strauss to carry on until the next Ashes series at least. But suddenly there is this big vacancy in the side and England are trying to make him the answer to their problem whether he is ready or not. It is thrusting a lot of responsibility on him earlier than I would have liked.

Fortunately for him and England if he gets the chance to open in India the pitches there are usually dry, flat and don't bounce too much. It is an easier place to play the new ball than anywhere else in the world.

He can also play spin well, and is adept at the reverse sweep. He is not fazed by the spinners. Youngsters today grow up and have no problem using reverse sweeps or sweeping spinners off a length because of the exposure they get to one-day cricket. They have no fear. The problem for England and for him is because county cricket is played on pretty flat pitches over four days, young players don't see many real turning pitches. That is why England came unstuck in the UAE and lost three Tests against Pakistan. They lost the first Test in Galle against Sri Lanka when it turned and but for Kevin Pietersen's fantastic innings in Colombo they would have lost that one too.

Even though he is a fine player, it was a brave and sensible decision to leave Pietersen out. It is obvious that the problems are still there. Nobody is going to admit it but it is common knowledge around the team that a number of players are fed up with him and don't want him back.

There are people who will say he is a superb batsman and we need him to help us win Test matches. What they forget is if Kevin's attitude impacts on various other team-mates, and if those team-mates lose five to ten per cent of their performance because he is in the team then they are better off without him.

Don't even think of saying that Botham and Boycott were talented, awkward buggers but helped win matches and that someone had to man-manage them. We never rubbished our captains to the opposition while playing with them. It is insulting to put us in the same bracket.

I am a huge supporter of Kevin's batting. He can do magical things but this issue is bigger than his batting and his ability to help win Test matches. Some people will say everyone deserves a second chance and people can change. I say, can they? Trust and respect has broken down.

The danger for the ECB is, can this fracture be mended or will it reappear again after a honeymoon period to hurt the team?

We have two Ashes series looming, starting next summer before a tour in the winter of 2013-14. Ashes contests are the biggest and most important cricket spectacles for England.

The ECB officials, selectors, captain and coach will not want anything or anyone to rock the boat and the team in the build-up to those two series. They will be weighing up whether they can trust Kevin to buy into the team ethos or if he will be alright for a short period and then revert back to disruption. Once something is badly fractured it can't always be mended. That is the dilemma for England. Does the leopard really change his spots?

Richard Burton and Liz Taylor were the great love story of the last 50 years. They got married and then divorced. They tried to mend fences and got married a second time but it lasted a few fleeting months.

They loved each other but could not live with each other and that is the problem for England and KP.