Former captain Andrew Strauss has backed England to put the Kevin Pietersen saga behind them and said the star batsman's apology over his text messages to South Africa players was sincere.
Pietersen criticised Strauss in the messages, but has since apologised and begun the process to be re-integrated into the England set-up after reversing his decision to retire from one-day cricket.
Strauss, who has retired from all forms of cricket, said he was not aware Pietersen had a problem with him and was surprised by the text affair. He said: "Nine-tenths of my time as England captain I found him a good guy to have in my team."
He added: "I don't think anyone got to the bottom of the text messaging saga. But Kevin has since come up to me and apologised for it and I respect that. He seemed contrite and I think he was sincere.
"Looking back I think it was wrong some of our players were following that [spoof KP Genius] Twitter account. But I still don't think it's a justification for what Kevin did."
Strauss hopes Pietersen can successfully return to the England set-up.
Strauss added in quotes reported by the Guardian: "If they can make it work then obviously England will be a better side with KP in it because he's an outstanding player.
"But if, behind the scenes, things are difficult and resentment is harboured, and if KP is not fully committed to England, there are going to be problems. But it's in everyone's interests to make it work."
