England’s coach, Andy Flower has hit back at suggestions that Kevin Pietersen is “an outcast” in the England team

Andrew Miller in Brisbane22-Nov-2010England’s coach, Andy Flower has hit back at suggestions that Kevin Pietersen is “an outcast” in the England team, a choice of words used by Shane Warne in a newspaper interview on Monday, in which he blamed the selectors for sacking Pietersen as captain in January 2009 and in so doing damaging his previously impenetrable ego.”The way they have treated him is ordinary and he has been made to feel as if he is a bit of an outcast,” said Warne in the Courier-Mail. “KP might be the walking ego with the way he struts around, and sometimes he is unpopular with his own team-mates, and he can rub people up the wrong way. But he has to be made to feel important and like he is the man. If he feels like that, he will give you everything.”Flower gave Warne’s theory short shrift when informed of it during a press conference on Monday morning. “He’s anything but an outcast,” said Flower. “He’s a good guy to have around in the dressing room, a great player to have on your side, a very dangerous player that the opposition worries about. We expect great things from him and we expect him to take part in team dynamics like everyone else does, and that’s what he does.”In keeping with England’s languid approach to Thursday’s first Test at the Gabba, the squad marked their arrival in Brisbane with a day of sight-seeing, with Flower subscribing to the notion that working hard and playing hard is the best blend for creating a happy and dynamic team ethic. And as if to prove a point about Pietersen’s ability to mix it in a dressing-room environment, it was also confirmed that he will be joining Surrey for the 2011 season, having enjoyed a brief stint with them back in September following the severing of ties with his old club, Hampshire.”I think that we do have very good team unity,” said Flower. “Kevin does like the big stage, and I think that’s one of the great things about him as a competitive athlete, he enjoys the pressure situations, the chance to bat brilliantly while everyone’s watching, and that’s part of what makes up a very fine competitor.”Nevertheless, with the cauldron atmosphere of the “Gabbatoir” fast approaching, Pietersen remains the one England player who has yet to make a significant mark during England’s warm-up period, with a top score of 58 in four first-class innings at Perth, Adelaide and Hobart. What is more, his renowned weakness against left-arm spin was once again exposed in the final match against Australia A, when he was bowled for 5 by Steve O’Keefe – a dismissal that may well have influenced the selection of Xavier Doherty over Australia’s incumbent offspinner, Nathan Hauritz, for the first Test.Flower, however, isn’t convinced that such a tactic will pay off on the big day, and put the O’Keefe dismissal down to the bowler’s skill. “I thought he got quite a good ball the other day,” he said. “It drifted and just turned a bit at a reasonable pace. KP’s had a lot of success against left-arm spinners, and against Shane Warne who bowled with a similar trajectory, and I think he’s playing very well. He’s spent some time in the middle over the three first-class games, and though he missed out in Hobart, he’s feeling confident about his game and I expect him to do well. He’s in as good a nick as I could have hoped.”Despite the daunting reputation of the Gabba, a venue at which Australia haven’t lost a Test match in 22 years, Flower brushed aside the notion that the tone of the forthcoming series would be established from the very first ball – as was the case in 1994-95, when a Phil DeFreitas long-hop was carved for four by Michael Slater, and again in 2006-07, when Steve Harmison bowled his infamous wide to second slip.”We all realise the importance of setting the tone, but a five-Test series will not be won or lost over one ball,” he said. “We’ve played some good cricket recently and our guys think we can win this series. Whether or not we’re favourites is by the by, but any of the cricketers taking part in the middle will tell you that has nothing to do with facing up in that first hour or attacking with the new ball. We’re not overly concerned with that sort of judgment.”Australia have got an outstanding record here,” he conceded. “It’s going to be quite a record to turn over, but our side in the last 12-18 months has done a few good things, one of which was turning over that Lord’s record of not having beaten Australia there for 75 years. This is the challenge put in front of us, and we’re looking forward to it.”As for the overall importance of the Ashes, Flower was careful not to overstate their value, just as was the case in 2009 when England’s celebrations involved a low-key night on the tiles and an early flight to Belfast for a one-day game. Such a dismissive attitude to a triumph of that magnitude did raise a few eyebrows, not least from the team itself, but the approach was justified in hindsight, as England went on to build on their performance in a manner they were unable to do in 2005.”The Ashes is an important series, obviously, and the whole history of the competition is interesting, and it’s a real honour for everyone in our squad to be involved in it,” he said. “But we have ambitions to be the No.1 side in the world, and the Ashes being an important series in its own right is an important step along the way.”