Kevin Pietersen has labelled Graeme Swann's recent autobiography as "not a clever book" after his England team-mate went into print to criticise him as "not a natural leader". Pietersen, in an interview with the BBC on Monday, insisted he had a good relationship with Swann and that the fall-out from the off-spinner's book would have no bearing on England's team spirit ahead of their upcoming series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
"Things are absolutely fine," said Pietersen. "It was Swanny, Swanny likes to talk. It's not a clever book in the middle of your career, but it's not affecting anything that's going on in the team for sure. "The team spirit we've got at the moment... a book won't change anything like that," Pietersen added.
"When we go to Abu Dhabi and Dubai in a couple of weeks time, the team will be as united as ever and that's not going to change for one second because of a book," star batsman Pietersen insisted. Pietersen was briefly England's captain across all formats but resigned in January 2009 after questioning the credentials of then coach Peter Moores, who was sacked from his post.
Pietersen said England's inability, in contrast to the Test team, to find a settled One-day side was behind the Twenty20 world champions struggles in the 50-over format. "We've used so many players, whether it be through injury or rest. "I've played seven years of One-day cricket for England, and it's round about 35 players that we've used. "To get that consistency and roles in the team can be quite hard," he explained.
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