The former Australian skipper Steve Waugh added his respected voice to the Ashes build-up by telling Kevin Pietersen he was wrong to relinquish the England captaincy.
Pietersen was in the job for just three tests before he fell out with coach Peter Moores in a saga which plunged English cricket into crisis just months before the team attempts to reclaim the Ashes.
Steve Waugh says it didn't look like it was a terrible situation.
He told laureus.com it does take a while to work with someone, and you're not just going to come on board as a captain and work smoothly and fit in exactly the way he wants.
Waugh says as you've got to get used to the way people operate, he doesn't believe they really didn't probably give each other enough of an opportunity to do that.
Pietersen, who wants to remain as part of the squad despite reports that his self-confidence and single-mindedness had split the England dressing room, has been succeeded as skipper by opener Andrew Strauss.
Moores, sacked as coach, has been replaced on a temporary basis by former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower who will lead England on their forthcoming tour of the West Indies.
