Former England captain Andrew Strauss feels that chief coach Andy Flower "genuinely has to want to bridge the gap" with comeback man Kevin Pietersen or else there will be some challenges for the visitors.
"For it (relation with KP) to work out long term, everyone's genuinely got to want it to work out. Kevin has to want to be part of the team for a long time and the players need to move on from what happened at Healingly and various other things. Even the likes of Andy Flower genuinely has to want to bridge the gap and move forward," Strauss was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"If that is everyone's attitude, then it can work. If it isn't, then I think there are going to be challenges."
About the issue of mutual respect among players, Strauss stated, "The question of actually liking each other is not an issue. It's about respect. Not everyone's going to be best mates. In a dressing-room environment, especially when you're away from home so much, it becomes your second family."
The former skipper who had led his country in 50 Tests feels that dysfunctional dressing rooms can be an impediment to success.
"If people start doubting that, it becomes a dysfunctional dressing room very quickly. I've been in good, functional dressing rooms and I've been in dysfunctional ones.
In a dysfunctional one, it doesn't matter how good the players are, it never has success consistently.
"People will always be judged on their actions. Over the next few months for Kevin and the rest of the guys it will be apparent whether it's going to work or not."
Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
