Pietersen needs to say sorry to Strauss properly - and in person

I've heard both sides of the story now - from Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss at Lord's, and now from Kevin Pietersen.
The buzzword has been trust. And if I had to trust anyone, it would be Flower and Strauss to do the right thing.

Telling it like it is: Nasser Hussain talks to Kevin Pietersen before Surrey's CB40 game at The Oval on Tuesday

 

Kevin is totally apologetic for what he's done and rightly so. He's willing to admit he's got things horribly wrong. He wants to make up for it.
But he also feels some of what has been reported has been blown out of proportion. As Sportsmail explained on Monday, Pietersen did not, for example, tell South Africa's bowlers in the texts to go round the wicket.
He does, though, admit he sent some stuff he shouldn't have and he knows the one person he feels he shouldn't have hurt is Strauss.
But he must also realise, as Flower said on Tuesday, that this is not just about texts. He needs to have a good long look at himself. The last thing he'll want to do is look back in a few years' time and realise he could have saved his career by going out of his way to say sorry - properly, and in person.
I just hope the three of them can sit down together - and that means no agents or so-called representatives - and thrash it out. Because to say England may never pick him again is a big thing. Never is a long time.
But it will still be up to Flower and Strauss to decide if they believe he can change his ways. As an England fan, I want to see him back in the team. But only if he genuinely wants to be part of it.