The advent of new ECB Chairman Colin Graves has brought the return of the question would Pietersen make the difference and should he be given another chance with England? Pietersen, who won 104 Test caps and averaged 47.28 with the bat, was excluded from the England set-up after the 2013-14 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0. But Yorkshire chairman Graves, who takes up his ECB post in May, suggested the South African-born batsman might be considered for England duty again if he scored a lot of runs in county Cricket.
Opinion is clearly split, with many saying he would disrupt what is now in place, but others realising what benefit he could bring to a clearly struggling England team.
The World Cup in Australia has only helped to serve the case for his return with one lacklustre performance after another. Ex England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard suggested that Pietersen was now "too far removed" from the side, after his international career was ended in February 2014.
Former England opener Nick Compton spoke out in defence of Pietersen on Talksport Radio, saying how he had been helped immensely by Pietersen while on tour. Compton stated that the current England philosophy has become about cohesion and team spirit, since Moores was put back in charge and that the management would question whether Pietersen could bring anything to that way of thinking. He highlighted the fact that, when Pietersen was scoring runs so were England as a team, in the same way that when James Anderson was taking wickets so were the other bowlers.
With Pietersen missing and Anderson going through a bit of a lean spell with the ball is it any coincidence that England have failed as a unit?
Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, quite possibly the best bowler wicket keeper combination in history, publicly stated how off the field they didn't speak to each other for nearly 18 months.
Clearly non-cohesion within a camp is disruptive!
The majority of the players from the side Pietersen that were expelled from, are either now Pundits on Sky TV or publishing their views in the printed press apart, from the odd one or two who are still playing.
Pundits can and will always have an opinion, and normally a controversial one, to keep the viewing public engaged, but the one thing being missed by these people is that Pietersen is still wanted by cricket fans throughout the country.
Pietersen has done everything asked of him by the ECB and was made the scapegoat for a 5-0 Ashes whitewash. He scored 294 runs in the 5 tests which is, to be honest , not the best return but is 48 runs more than captain Alastair Cook managed. The time has come to let Pietersen back into the fold.
Would Pietersen make the difference? Put him out in the middle in an England shirt and I think we would all find out the answer.
