Former England captain Michael Vaughan has backed Andy Flower's frustration at comments made by Graeme Swann in his autobiography.In his new book, 'The Breaks Are Off', Swann claims Kevin Pietersen was the wrong man to be England captain.
Pietersen endured a brief, troubled spell in charge of the side in 2008 before new head coach Flower and skipper Andrew Strauss teamed up early in 2009 to start a journey that led England to the top of the Test rankings this year.
"There is no doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman, but he was never the right man to captain England in my opinion," Swann wrote. "Some people are better leaders of men, and Kev, for all his abundant talent, is not one of those natural leaders.
"I wouldn't say he was a useless captain, but he wasn't my sort of captain."
While Flower commended Pietersen's handling of the situation and insisted there was no problem between the players, he said he didn't think current players should write about their team-mates in this way. "I personally don't think that it's a good idea for current players to be talking about their fellow players," he said.
And Vaughan agrees: "When you make comments on individual players that you've played with, what gain has Graeme Swann got or the team got from him mentioning that?
"Andy Flower won't be happy because he likes to keep a very tight ship. He hates anything getting leaked out and he'll be immensely disappointed with what Swann had to say about KP."
But Vaughan doesn't believe the controversy has had any bearing on England's current struggles in India, where they trail the five-match ODI series 2-0 after successive heavy defeats.
He said: "No, not at all. India are just better suited and a better team in those conditions.
"The last time England were there they lost 5-0. Flower will be hoping that it's not the same again but you certainly can't back against England losing 5-0 in this series," added Vaughan.
Pietersen endured a brief, troubled spell in charge of the side in 2008 before new head coach Flower and skipper Andrew Strauss teamed up early in 2009 to start a journey that led England to the top of the Test rankings this year.
"There is no doubt that Kev is a good player, a really fine batsman, but he was never the right man to captain England in my opinion," Swann wrote. "Some people are better leaders of men, and Kev, for all his abundant talent, is not one of those natural leaders.
"I wouldn't say he was a useless captain, but he wasn't my sort of captain."
While Flower commended Pietersen's handling of the situation and insisted there was no problem between the players, he said he didn't think current players should write about their team-mates in this way. "I personally don't think that it's a good idea for current players to be talking about their fellow players," he said.
And Vaughan agrees: "When you make comments on individual players that you've played with, what gain has Graeme Swann got or the team got from him mentioning that?
"Andy Flower won't be happy because he likes to keep a very tight ship. He hates anything getting leaked out and he'll be immensely disappointed with what Swann had to say about KP."
But Vaughan doesn't believe the controversy has had any bearing on England's current struggles in India, where they trail the five-match ODI series 2-0 after successive heavy defeats.
He said: "No, not at all. India are just better suited and a better team in those conditions.
"The last time England were there they lost 5-0. Flower will be hoping that it's not the same again but you certainly can't back against England losing 5-0 in this series," added Vaughan.
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