Swann causes a flap with attack on skipper Pietersen

ENGLAND'S rise to the top of the world Test cricket rankings was hard work and depended on a strong team ethic. However, as the side begin their tour of India two senior members of the squad could find themselves at daggers drawn over a new book that could undermine the togetherness of the group.

Spinner Graeme Swann has let rip at former England skipper Kevin
Pietersen in his autobiography The Brakes Are Off, questioning his
credentials for the job and accusing him of undermining morale through his feud with the then coach, Peter Moores.

Pietersen was appointed captain of the team in 2008 but soon fell out with Moores. After their relationship disintegrated both men lost their jobs, which led to the appointment of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower as captain and coach. They subsequently guided England to their current position at the summit of the world game.

Swann, who was new to the team in 2008, does not recall
Pietersen's leadership with much fondness. "When a captain goes renegade like that, I am not sure how you should handle it," he wrote. "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."

He goes on to damn Pietersen, who has a reputation for being sensitive, with faint praise. "There is no doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman, but he was never the right man to be captain," says Swann. "Andrew Strauss was. Some people are better leaders of men and Kev, for all his abundant talent, is not one of those natural leaders."

And there's worse to come. The outspoken spinner admits: "The captains I've enjoyed playing under are the ones that don't get flustered even when the pressure is on. I need someone who can calm me down but Kev could get quite wound up. At one point in India his leadership was reduced to a period of screaming 'fucking bowl fucking straight' at everyone."

The effect the book will have on the relationship between the two men remains to be seen. England have rested most of their key players for the two-match tour of India, and Swann and Pietersen are the two oldest men in the squad. One-day captain Alastair Cook may have his work cut out keeping the peace. ·