Shane Warne believes England will "struggle" to win a Test match all year after the ECB ruled out bringing back Kevin Pietersen.
Australia legend Warne believes newly-appointed director Andrew Strauss - who confirmed yesterday that Pietersen will not be selected this summer due to "trust" issues - is now left with a tough job of finding a new head coach.
He tweeted: "To me England will struggle to win a test match this summer ! 2 nill loss to NZ is likely & so to a third 5-0 whitewash in 8 yrs V OZ #Ashes."
Read that my old mate Strauss has said KP won't play for Eng, but offered him an advisory role to help Eng ? What the ? Serious ? #shambles
- Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 12, 2015
If Strauss wanted instant public acceptance & the whole country to support Eng again, he should have said, "I want KP back in the team" !!!
- Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 12, 2015
Question, will the ECB only employ a new coach on the proviso he doesn't want KP in the team ? Gillespie or Langer would have wanted KP ! ��
- Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 13, 2015
I'm back for the Lords test between Eng & NZ. Will be an interesting press conf the day before when Cook is asked"Did u want KP in the team"
- Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 13, 2015
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, whose old team-mates Jason Gillespie and Justin Langer are the favourites to succeed Peter Moores, has also warned that any coach would be "crazy" to take the England position after the Pietersen saga.
Hayden said: "You'd be crazy to apply for the England coach's role because with a director, you are the man the establishment is going to kick. You have no control whatsoever.
"I think England are entering into a very dangerous space. They have been in a perilous position for the last six months and they are going into very deep times now with an absolutely on-fire New Zealand team and a really revengeful and very in-form Australian team too.
"There are going to be some really tough times ahead for England and they need to sort their back-of-office out quickly, otherwise we are going to see England fall well behind in those Test rankings."