The Ashes 2010: Warne says England made Kevin Pietersen an outcast

Shane Warne has accused England of making Kevin Pietersen feel like "an outcast" as he stepped up his verbal attacks ahead of the Ashes series. Pietersen has made only one Test hundred since he was sacked from the England captaincy nearly two years ago after an ultimatum insisting that he could not work alongside the coach at the time, Peter Moores. Warne, whose retirement as Australia's leg-spinner has coincided with their collapse down the Test rankings, told the Brisbane Courier Mail: "KP's lean trot has a lot to do with the way he has been treated by England. He was forced out as captain and sacked from the one-day side earlier this year. "The way they have treated him is ordinary and he has been made to feel as if he is a bit of an outcast. KP might be the walking ego and can rub people up the wrong way. He does have an attitude. But he has to be made to feel important and like he is the man." Andy Flower, the England coach, waved aside Warne's claims in Brisbane today, saying: "He's anything but an outcast. He's a good guy to have in the dressing room, a great player to have on your side, a very dangerous player that the opposition worry about. "We expect great things from him and that he takes part in team dynamics like everyone else does, and that is what he does. We do have very good team unity and that is one of our strengths, but Kevin does like the big stage and that's one of the great things about him. He enjoys the pressure situations. He enjoys the chance to bat brilliantly while everyone's watching. It's part of what makes up a very fine competitor." Pietersen was left out of England's one-day matches against Pakistan to enable him to rediscover his form in the longer form of the game in a brief loan spell at Surrey, a county that is about to confirm that he will join them next season. His ego was ruffled as a message on Twitter, intended to be private and hastily withdrawn, soon indicated. "Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too. Its a f**k up!!," he posted. The suggestion that he is an outcast in the England dressing room, however, bears no relation to reality. England's dressing room has learned how to accommodate the Pietersen ego, and Flower, who Pietersen also intimated was not up to the job, has been a constant source of support since he succeeded Moores as coach as he sought to make him feel valued and at ease despite his return to the ranks. Pietersen has shown signs of his best form in Australia, although the return of his fallibility against slow left-armers against Australia A in Hobart, when Steven O'Keefe dismissed him with a straight ball, is disconcerting for England and might have played a part in Australia's decision to drop the off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in favour of Tasmania's uncapped left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty. England's arrival in Australia three weeks ago coincided with another Twitter exchange in which Warne accused the former England captain Michael Vaughan of being "cocky" and asked: "What's with the English lip?" Retired Ashes players are intent upon delivering the first blows off the field. Matthew Hayden, another former Australia great, has also been in gung-ho mood in The Australian newspaper as Australia look to defend their 22-year unbeaten record in Tests at The Gabba, Hayden's home ground. "Beware the wounded cricketer," he said. "You can't hide at The Gabba when it's delivery day and Australia will be reformulated as a unit together. You are at the coalface of competitive battle."