I get the feeling a lot of this is really about Kevin Pietersen. A couple of years ago he was sending texts abusing then captain Andrew Strauss to South African players while they were playing a series against South Africa. The outcome...Strauss suddenly retires and Pietersen stays in the team. During this series Strauss said of Cook that it was important he assert himself as captain and start demanding a certain level of performance from senior players rather than treating them like friends. Pietersen has had a bad attitude in the field like he always does and thrown just about every innings he's played away through wild shot play. Allowing one guy (Pietersen) to play solely for himself might have broken down the team harmony of the whole side once things got tough.
