‘Team spirit must come before individuals’

England batsman Eoin Morgan admits Kevin Pietersen’s fall from grace has emphasised the danger of letting individuals undermine team spirit. Pietersen has been cast into exile by England after the controversial batsman infuriated captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower by sending text messages containing criticism of the duo to South Africa players. While Morgan wasn’t involved in Test series, the Irishman has been drafted in for the limited overs clashes, after assessing the mood in the camp, he believes it is vital that distractions like the Pietersen saga are quashed quickly to avoid bad feeling spreading through the squad. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s second one-day international in Southampton, Morgan said: “I think Kevin is a world-class cricketer and any team around the world would want him in their side, but there are issues surrounding him at the moment and it will take time to resolve them. “Personally I didn’t find him difficult but I’ve not been around the Test team a lot.”