Bresnan thinks the England dressing room relationship is just as healthy with or without Pietersen
England all-rounder Tim Bresnan has revealed that the relationship between the players in the England dressing room is still the healthy despite the absence of batsman Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen, who was dropped for the final Test match at Lord’s against South Africa, hinted that he might retire from Test cricket if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and him cannot reach a compromise.
Pietersen wants the ECB to allow him to miss two Test matches against New Zealand in order to play a full season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the batsman also wants the board to tone down the number of series the team plays in a full season.
Pietersen’s relationship with his England team-mates may have become even more frosty after a parody Twitter account was created about him, which Pietersen claims to be the work of one or more of his team-mates.
Pietersen has admitted that the relationship he has with his team-mates is one of the major “obstacles” he needs to overcome if he is to return to the international cricket scene.
Writing a column in the Daily Mirror before the start of the third Test match at Lord’s, Bresnan said: “Kevin Pietersen will be the centre of attention when we come together again at Lord’s for the final Test against South Africa next week. He scored a brilliant 149 and we want more of that from him this time, Kevin mentioned the dressing room in his post-match comments at -Headingley, but I can assure you there has been no great change in the relationship between the players. The lads all generally rub along well together and if anyone has an issue, whether it is Kev or anybody else, we can all talk to each other and get it sorted. But if players want to be left alone then that is fine too.”
Even though there has been speculation that the England team have not been bonding so well in the dressing room, Bresnan was quick to reassure fans that everyone was getting along just fine.
“There has always been banter between us all and Kevin has been a big part of that on both sides. All teams have it and it is healthy. As far as I’m concerned the England dressing room is still a great place to be and when we cross the boundary rope we are all pulling in the same direction,” Bresnan added.
When asked about how he thinks the ongoing dispute between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB would pan out, Bresnan noted that it was none of his business, but hoped the situation between the two would be resolved as soon as possible.