England v Australia: Pietersen key team player for England – Morgan

Pietersen has been plagued throughout his career by accusations that he is primarily concerned with himself and that he can be a negative influence on a dressing room environment.

When Pietersen last played for England at Headingley, against South Africa last year, he delivered his infamous “it’s tough being me” speech that highlighted just how far relations between himself and his colleagues had plummeted.

However, with Pietersen having been successfully reintegrated into the England set-up, and with the 33-year-old having played an important part in the recent Ashes victory, Morgan revealed how Pietersen had been a big help to him personally when he first played for England in 2009.

“When I first came into the team he was one of the more senior players, and he was a guy you could turn to and ask difficult questions or have no hesitation in turning to him for a positive option,” said Morgan, who is leading England in the five-match ODI series that starts in Leeds in the absence of the resting Alastair Cook.

“In that regard I think he’s fantastic to have in the squad and back in for the one-day series.

“Kev offers a hell of a lot as a senior player and as a batsman; as a senior player, he leads by example with the confidence in which he goes about his business.

“People rub off on that, and that’s crucial.”

Cook’s absence for this series, allied to that of Ian Bell, means England will have to find a new combination to open the batting.

Morgan revealed he could turn to star man Pietersen, who last opened against Pakistan at Dubai in February last year, scoring a one-day international career-best 130.

“It’s certainly an option,” said Morgan.

“Kev’s opened the batting for England before and done well.

“He also bats in the middle-order and is a very explosive player. He’s very versatile in that regard so we’ll be looking at both options.

“Cooky and Belly have been very successful now for a couple of years and they’ve been a huge part of our success as a one-day team.

“With the two new balls in one-day cricket it makes that role more difficult now, so it’s an important role and one that we recognise needs filling.”

England are anxious to avoid a repeat of previous post-Ashes slumps and to keep the Australians on the back foot in this one-day rubber.

The hosts have won six of their last nine home ODI campaigns and crushed the Australians 4-0 last year, but they lost their last two post-Ashes series in 2009 and 2010-11.

“We’ve talked about it before and this series is no different,” said Morgan, who scored an unbeaten hundred in England’s warm-up win over his native Ireland on Tuesday.

“We need to turn up, produce our skills at crucial times and stand up and be counted.

“I think everybody is aware of the responsibility that’s on their shoulders and what is expected.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought series for both sides and really exciting at the same time.”

Morgan, 26, has a young group of players at his disposal, with England having also chosen to rest pace bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad along with spinner Graeme Swann.

This has provided opportunity for such as young Somerset pace bowler Jamie Overton and Sussex fast bowler Chris Jordan.

“We’ve got a young, talented, exciting team playing in this series,” maintained Morgan.

“It can also be a stepping stone looking ahead to the 2015 World Cup.”

Australia have dropped batsman David Warner for the ODIs, while former Yorkshire fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been ruled out with a sore back.

However, despite back trouble of his own, captain Michael Clarke said he had neither given thought to quitting ODI cricket nor resting ahead of the next Ashes series that starts in November.

“I feel as fit and as strong as I’ve been throughout my career, so I don’t see any reason why I can’t continue to manage it and play for a lot longer in both forms of the game,” said Clarke. “I love one-day cricket and Test cricket as well. It was a no-brainer for me if I wanted to stay here and play the one-dayers.

“I want to play every game I can for Australia, and I’ve prepared for this game as I would if it was the first Test of the Ashes; it’s just as important to me.”

Clarke said he was excited by Australia’s emerging one-day squad.

“I think we’ve got a good mixture of youth and experience: some guys who are looking forward to getting a chance and some who are keen to prove a point and push for selection in other forms of the game as well,” he added.

“We are excited about this part of the tour and would love to leave the UK with a couple of wins under our belt.”