Tuesday 7 January 2014 23:20, UK
Kevin Pietersen has indicated his desire to carry on playing for England and to help them win back the Ashes in 2015.
Sky Sports expert Bob Willis believes that Pietersen either needs to have a vital role in the England set-up or that he should not be involved at all going forward. Wills commented: "He probably should be vice-captain in this side and picking the side when England are on tour with the captain and coach. That's what should happen. "Otherwise if he's going to be peripheral figure he might as well be totally peripheral and leave the stage." Fellow pundit and ex-England international Mark Butcher hopes Pietersen is a positive influence on England's youngsters, like he is when with his country Surrey. "On the rare occasions Kevin Pietersen goes back and plays County Cricket for Surrey there are a lot of very young and experienced players there and they all say that he spends an enormous amount of time with them, talking to them, throwing balls at them and helping them with their game," said Butcher. "So the public persona, what we hear and see or perceive of Kevin Pietersen isn't necessarily the truth when he's behind closed doors with young players. I would hope that that's how he is in the England setup should he be in there, having to coach along the likes of - let's say for example James Taylor gets himself back in the side or Gary Balance, who's in the team at the moment. "He's the same with them, but that's not the story we're hearing from over there. A lot of people are parking a lot of England's problems behind closed doors at KP's door, which I don't know the veracity at that."
