A lack of trust between Kevin Pietersen and the ECB has been given as the main reason by director of cricket Andrew Strauss as to why the batsman won’t be considered for England this summer.

While Pietersen surpassed 350 for Surrey in a county game against Leicestershire, Strauss was in the hot seat facing the media for the first time since being appointed as the new director of cricket.

His appointment coincided with the sacking of coach Peter Moores, and now Pietersen, despite giving up part of his IPL contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad and scoring runs for Surrey, has been told he is not part of England’s short-term plans.

The first thing to say is that now the time is for open honest conversation. He’s [Pietersen] been a phenomenal player,’ said Strauss.

‘Over months and years the trust between himself and the ECB has eroded…because of that we’ve decided it’s not in the best short-term interests of the side for him to be in that team.

‘We can’t have a situation where the ECB and Kevin Pietersen don’t trust each other. If there’s a way to build trust let’s look at it. But at the moment we’re quite estranged.

‘He’s not barred from playing for England. He’s not part of our plans this summer, I can’t make any guarantees to him, or any player, beyond that. The trust isn’t there at the moment. I wish it wasn’t the case, but it is the case. It’s not about his ability as a player. It’s about trust. You can’t build that over a few days.’

As a final insult, Strauss reportedly offered Pietersen a role as advisor to the ODI team, which the batsman declined saying he ‘didn’t feel he was in a position to accept’.

Strauss confirmed that Australian Jason Gillespie is one of the candidates being considered for the England coaching job and said candidates will be approached over the next few days. The same coach will involved in Test and ODI cricket.

‘Alastair Cook has my full backing to lead the side into the Ashes this summer…the team needs his leadership,’ said Strauss.

Eoin Morgan will continue as ODI captain.

Strauss also confirmed the selection procedure will stay the same this summer and then will be reviewed.

Finally, Joe Root has been appointed vice-captain of the Test team.

‘It’s no reflection on the job Ian Bell has done,’ said Strauss.