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England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan have backed controversial teammate Kevin Pietersen to make a comeback in the national team.
Pietersen was omitted from the third Test this week and not selected for the ODIs or the Twenty20 World Cup, following revelations that he sent text messages to South African players criticising skipper Andrew Strauss.
Trott said if Pietersen's return helps the England team, then he should definitely comeback.
"For me, if Kevin's heart is 100 per cent, he is a fantastic player," The Daily Express quoted Trott, as saying.
"But it's not up to me to decide. And, I cannot comment on whether the rest of the team want him to come back or not. If it's for the good of the team, Kevin should come back. He clearly wants to return. But to play for England you need to tread a line with the team and your team-mates," he added.
Trott added Pietersen sat next to Strauss in the dressing room and, at Lord's, there was an empty space where the batsman usually sat.
Morgan, who is out of favour in the England team, said: "Not having Kevin for the last game probably hit home that we would be without a class player."
Trescothick urges Pietersen to end ongoing row
Meanwhile, former England batsman Marcus Trescothick has warned Pietersen to solve the ongoing row with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and captain Strauss to save himself from the pain of retiring from international cricket prematurely.
Trescothick, who is a former England teammate of Pietersen, retired prematurely from international cricket in 2008 following a battle with a depression.
While Trescothick is still playing for Somerset at the age of 36, the opener admits that the buzz of playing at the highest level haunts anyone whose time at the top ends ahead of time.
"Take it from me, you are a long time retired sitting on the outside knowing what you could have done," The Sun quoted Trescothick, as saying.
"We can only hope England and Kevin sort it out it would be a drastically sad way for this to end for such a great player. It's not been handled well and there are still issues to sort out. But international cricket is too big a prize for him to let it go in this way," he added.