Kevin Pietersen might still play in Ashes, says Ryan Harris

Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris doubts whether England will go through with their plan to omit Kevin Pietersen from this summer's Ashes.

Despite director of England cricket Andrew Strauss saying Pietersen is not in any international plans this summer, Harris believes that it will be hard for England leave out the mercurial batsman, who hit an unbeaten 355 for Surrey this week, if his fine form continues.

How highly the Surrey star is rated was clear when Harris was asked if he would prefer that the South African-born player was left out.

“Of course, absolutely; he’s a bloody good player and one of the hardest to bowl to, I find,” he told cricket.com.au.

“In saying that, when you play sides like England you want the best players playing – especially when we beat them, you want to beat the best team.”

And the Queensland man remains dubious that Pietersen will actually be left out.

“I know that Strauss and him probably don’t get on, (but) I’m not going to believe it until we get over there and they pick their squad,” Harris said.

“He’s just peeled off a triple-hundred. If he keeps going on and playing for Surrey – he may quit now – but if he keeps going and scoring hundred after hundred there’s going to be a lot of pressure to pick him.

“Although it has been said by the new cricket director, I’m not going to believe it until we play five Tests and Kevin Pietersen doesn’t play. If he keeps scoring runs the way he is it’s going to be very hard not to pick him.”

Harris did acknowledge that it would be difficult for Pietersen to return to the England set-up after a number of high-profile incidents that have soured relations with members of the current squad.

“The culture in the team is very important,” he added. “It showed, by the sounds of it, last time they were (in Australia) – they didn’t have a great team harmony and the result spoke for itself.

“The fact that he released a book and bagged everyone in the team isn’t great. It was going to be tough for him to get back in.

“The fact that he’s a pretty honest person and he wrote that in his book and the players that he wrote about are still playing – a majority of them – it would have been tough (to accept him back in the side).

“I know our team, we’ve had really good team harmony the last four or five years and the culture in the team is really good and our results probably speak for themselves.

“(Team culture) is very important, and he might not fit into that and it’s why someone’s made a decision to not put him back in there.”