Kevin Pietersen puts spat with Andrew Strauss behind him, hails ECB Director for role in England's progress

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has put his grievances behind him and has come out in praise of former captain Andrew Strauss who is currently England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Director of Cricket. Pietersen has hailed the southpaw for England's progress in Test cricket under his watch.

Pietersen and Strauss have had a rocky relationship over the years, which started in 2012 due to the texting scandal during England's tour of South Africa, a controversy which had was one of the main reasons for the batsman being frozen out of the England cricket set-up.

The 39-year-old Strauss, who was named England's Director of Cricket in 2015, decided not to pick Pietersen, quickly putting an end to Pietersen's hopes of a comeback, citing lack of trust. Pietersen, for his part, has claimed that he has moved on and that The Three Lions progress in the longer format of the game is due to the vision of Strauss.

"He's actually doing a very good job for England. He's stuck to his principles and he's not deviated. And England have done okay, they won against Australia, they've beaten South Africa in South Africa and they've got a huge series right now against India. I think he's done an okay job. He's a current player and I like that about 'Straussy'. He's played over 100 Test matches and so he gets the modern day thinking", Pietersen said to Cricket Australia.

"He doesn't really get the shorter formats of the game because he hasn't played too much of that, but he does get the modern-day way, which I think is a really good for a position like that. I'm thumbs up with Straussy. We've had our issues but everyone has issues with certain people. It doesn't bother me now. I live with a smile on my face all day, every day."

Since being ostracised from England's national squad, Pietersen has become somewhat of a Twenty20 freelancer playing in the T20 leagues ranging from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Australia's Big Bash competition.