The only Ashes Kevin Pietersen’s going to be in the midst of this summer are the ashes of the bridges he has burned.

Clearly, talent is not the issue when it comes to his international future, or lack of it. No, there are hardly any – or even no – English batsmen who could have racked up an unbeaten 355 this week, even if it came in Division 2 of the Championship against Leicester, winless in 36 games.

The issue is, has always been and will continue to be, trust, or a lack of it. So what if you apologise for ‘Textgate’? That doesn’t undo anything. An apology is not necessarily enough to get you off the hook for any misdemeanour, no matter how insignificant you might personally think it.

Some things are unforgivable. Now, whether this particular incident was or was not isn’t up to me to decide, or you, or Piers Morgan... it’s up to Andrew Strauss and the ECB and they’re clearly not over it.

KP had plenty to say about the ECB and plenty of players in his autobiography in October. Once again, all actions have consequences. The bloke is now desperately scrabbling to get his job back from the people he’s been squaring up to for so long.

What does he want to hear? That he’s a more popular personality than the ECB and their new man Strauss? Guess what, Kev, you win. Nice one. It’s not exactly hard, though.

‘Yes, yes,’ you cry, ‘who cares about personalities, it’s only a game of cricket and having a better player in your team will help you win one’.

Well, that’s a short-termist view. To me, sport can’t be about winning at any cost, be it one game, one series or one trophy, otherwise we’d all go and support Chelsea... just like KP does.

He might just have cracked 1,000 runs this summer and that might just have been enough to get us over the line in a few of the Tests against New Zealand and then Australia… maybe even win a series. Imagine that!

However, what then? He retires from Test cricket a hero aged 35 and we go back to square one? Seems likely as anything to me.

At what cost does the decision to recall him come? What damage to the game, the ECB, Strauss, the development of the batsman’s place he takes… and not least, dressing-room morale.

Nobody can possibly know but everyone has a view about whether it’s worth the risk. In mine, it’s not. It’s way beyond time we all moved on.

As far as I am concerned, this is about Pietersen’s frustration at being powerless to end things on his own terms, as he’d no doubt want after 100+ Tests and 12,000+ England runs. He’s been a fantastic player to watch in an England shirt. Yes, he’s still got it but it’s not worth trying to make it work any more.

I’d be far more inclined to use this transitional period to establish a new pool of players with international experience. There’s plenty of untapped talent.

o0o

It seems to have happened quietly, without huge pomp or controversy but how nicely has goalline technology been woven into the fabric of our national game.

No debates on Tuesday morning after Arsenal’s defeat, no bitter players or managers up in arms at a decision costing them dear. No, a simple, clear solution. The best advance in the game since the orange ball for snow games.