Kevin Pietersen could be banned from working as TV pundit at Twenty20 World Cup

Current players have worked in television and radio before when under contract, usually when they have been injured, and James Anderson and Matt Prior will both be in Sky’s London studio during the tournament.

But as one senior ECB source said of Pietersen’s latest move: “It is hardly the act of a man trying to build bridges.”

Pietersen is meant to be meeting Andrew Strauss over the next few days to explain himself over the texts he sent to South Africa’s players, but this latest move is unlikely to endear him either to his Test captain or to the selectors, who will decide whether or not to offer him a new central ­contract next month. To them, it will be another point of conflict with a player increasingly alienating himself from the team ideal.

Strauss and the ECB management are still smarting from the fact that Pietersen has not yet conveyed any kind of regret for his actions in person, choosing only to communicate through his agent and PR men.

Perhaps he has sensed the weight and hardness of opinion against him and has thrown caution to the wind. If not, you have to marvel at how poorly he is being advised.

Pietersen is a superb batsman but there is a sense that his presence has shackled some individuals in the squad, such as Ian Bell, who has grown in his role as an opener in the 50-over game since Pietersen’s initial retirement from limited-overs ­internationals.

Before rain washed out yesterday’s first one-day international between England and South Africa in Cardiff, the Warwickshire batsman once again gave a glimpse of why he has become so highly rated.

The morning start had already been delayed to 2pm and the match reduced to 24 overs when, after a ­single delivery from Morne Morkel – a wide – the players went off again for rain. Play briefly resumed after 10 ­minutes, with the match reduced to 23 overs, but only 5.3 overs were ­possible before the rain returned. In that time, Bell smashed 26 runs off 18 balls, including two sixes off a Morkel over that went for 16 and two fours off Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

It was the kind of dominant batting for which Pietersen is famous, but as Bell has shown, it is no longer ­exclusive to him.