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Tremlett: Pietersen did nothing wrong

Chris Tremlett insists Kevin Pietersen did nothing wrong during the Ashes series in Australia that led to his sacking by England and has disputed claims that the dressing room united against the batsman.

Tremlett, who plays alongside Pietersen at Surrey, believes the ousted batsman was guilty of nothing more than speaking honestly in an otherwise quiet squad during their 5-0 defeat in Australia.

Pietersen was charged with a "breach of team ethics" by the ECB, who announced that they would "move on" without him in a bid to restore a culture within the team that offered its full support to captain Alastair Cook.

But Tremlett, who played in just one Test during the whitewash, said Pietersen's criticisms of the side were in keeping with his character as one of the strong voices in the dressing room.

"From what I saw Kevin did nothing wrong, in my opinion, but be honest about what was happening," Tremlett told the Guardian.

"Whether people want to accept that or not I'm not sure. There are obviously underlying things that were going on but Kevin's a pretty honest character.

"I'm pretty good friends with Kevin and I was involved in that tour in Australia and from what I saw he didn't do anything wrong. He was just honest about the setup. It was a tough tour for everyone and naturally when you are losing things do go wrong and at times maybe communications did break down a bit."

Pietersen played 104 Tests for England, scoring 32 centuries and amassing a record 13,797 runs across all formats before he was excluded from the World Twenty20 squad in February and informed that he was no longer part of the England squad.

The ECB refused to outline the details of Pietersen's rumoured breaches of team discipline or ethics that prompted their decision, but Tremlett believes the 33-year-old is in part being punished for previous misdemeanours.

"If he thinks something, Kevin will just say it to your face," Tremlett added. "I think Kevin was just honest with what was going on and he wasn't afraid to say what he thought. I don't know if he's been punished for that in terms of not playing for England again.

"Things have happened with Kevin along the way that have upset the ECB in the past. So it's their decision they have made to move on but I think it's a great shame for everyone not to see Kevin in an England shirt."

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