Graeme Swann: Pietersen appointment caused 'disharmony'
Graeme Swann believes Kevin Pietersen was "never the right man" to captain England, however he believes the experiment has served the national team well in the long run.
Swann, whose autobiography, The Breaks Are Off, is currently being serialised in The Times, also revealed how Pietersen's lack of confidence in the ability of then-coach Peter Moores caused disharmony in the dressing room.
Moores was appointed England coach in April 2007 with Pietersen taking over the captaincy a year later, but it proved an ill-fated partnership.
"Strauss is one of those guys who demand respect, and on a daily basis you never really fathom why. He just does."
Graeme Swann Quotes of the week
Pietersen asked the England and Wales Cricket Board to replace Moores and in the end both men were removed from their positions.
Respect
Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have since formed a formidable coach-captaincy partnership and Swann revealed how the current England skipper commanded respect immediately.
Writing in his autobiography, Swann wrote: "Kev was adamant that Moores was a county coach who could not cut the mustard at the top level.
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"When a captain goes renegade like that, I am not sure how you should handle it, but it was probably for the best that they changed the captain as well, because out of all the disharmony we ended up with the right man as captain of England, and a world-class coach as well.
"There is no doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman, but he was never the right man to be captain, in my opinion. Andrew Strauss was. Some people are better leaders of men and Kev for all his abundant talent is not one of those natural leaders.
"In contrast Strauss is one of those guys who demand respect, and on a daily basis you never really fathom why. He just does. He always says the right things, whether it be in team meetings or in press conferences, and his word is never questioned.
"The thing I particularly like about him, perhaps the reason I prefer his captaincy to Kev's, is that he is very level-headed on the field."
Source: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7235235,00.html
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