Intro:

Batsman Ian Bell and ex-captain Nasser Hussain say that England would be a stronger team with Kevin Pietersen in it and that he should be given a chance to win back his place.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Bell, England batsman (on whether he trusts Andrew Strauss to make the right decisions)

"My experience of playing under Straussy as a leader, yes I do. I think over time...this isn't going to be a quick fix, I think it's going to take him time and I'm sure he'll have that. And it's not just the Test cricket and these decisions, he's going to look at one-day cricket and everything else. As a bloke, would I judge him and would I trust him? Yes I would, yeah."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Ian Bell, England batsman (on Kevin Pietersen's omission)

"Obviously Kevin is a quality player, probably the best player I've ever played with so he does make any team stronger. Again, I don't know what's been going on in these meetings and what's been said between Colin Graves and Kevin and Tom Harrison and Kevin and Andrew Strauss, I don't know all that. Again, as we've talked about it, it's no good us as players worrying about that or thinking about that. We have to go out and make sure we win and that's what your saying. Will it harm our chances? If we think about it and let it come into our dressing room and talk about it, yes it probably might. So our skill now as players, and as a senior player, is to try and make sure we firstly, when we get to Lord's against New Zealand, we put in a good week's cricket and make sure we win that Test match and then move on and keep it as simple as that. I think that's all we can do as players. We haven't been very good over the last 12 months, that's the reality. So we have to stand up now and start putting in good performances. And I think if we can think like that as a group, we're going to be OK."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Nasser Hussain, England captain 1999-2003 (on Pietersen)

"If a player's slagging you off, writing books, going over to Australia slagging you off, slagging off your opening bowlers etc., you'd have to think long and hard about re-introducing him. But I was a captain who believed in picking your best players and if you are captain and a coach, you man-manage difficult people. That's why you get paid the extra few quid and that's why you're in the job, you man-manage difficult...we're not good enough to make anyone unavailable for selection, unless they retire."