Andrew Flintoff was miffed about Kevin Pietersen’s axing © Getty Images
London: Kevin Pietersen has received support from former team mate Andrew Flintoff after the out-of-favour batsman’s hopes of earning an England recall suffered a huge blow when he was told that he would never play for his adopted country again. ALSO READ: Kevin Pietersen finds support from Rahul Dravid
Earlier on Tuesday, England’s new director of cricket Andrew Strauss informed the maverick batsman that he wouldn’t be considered for selection into the national side due to the existence of ‘massive trust issues’. READ:Kevin Pietersen cannot return due to trust issues with ECB, says Andrew Strauss
However, Flintoff said that Pietersen is not in his top 10 list of most difficult players he had played with, insisting that he is in the top three best players to be his teammates, the Mirror reported. READ: Kevin Pietersen, a hero England need but do not deserve
Despite scoring a brilliant 355 not out for Surrey against Leicestershire in the County Championship, Pietersen was not considered to make a comeback to the English side. READ: Australians delighted not to face Kevin Pietersen during Ashes
Pietersen, a veteran of 104 Test and 136 one-day caps for England, has been out of the national squad since his central contract was cancelled by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following the team’s Ashes washout by Australia in 2014.
The former England all-rounder has been positive about bringing Strauss in the English set-up, but disagrees on his decision to exclude Pietersen from the national side.