LONDON – England will not be weaker as a result of leading batsman Kevin Pietersen being dropped for this week's third and final Test against South Africa at Lord's, according to teammates Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan. “Just because you lose one player it doesn't necessarily make you a weaker team,” said off-spinner Graeme Swann in his Sun newspaper column. “We all need to be pulling in the same direction – not 10 of us doing it and one of us not.” Swann said England's one-day results had improved since Pietersen gave up 50-over and Twenty20 international cricket in May. “Since Kevin retired from limited-over cricket we are unbeaten in all matches in the shorter formats,” he said. Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow, 22, has replaced Pietersen and takes good form to Lord's after scoring a century against Australia A in Manchester last week. “It may be an even better side,” all-rounder Tim Bresnan told reporters when asked how the absence of Pietersen would affect England. “It's one of those things where a talented player has been replaced by another talented player. Why should we miss certain individuals just because they're not available for selection?”. Bresnan said the spirit among the squad, which is 1-0 down in the series, had not been destabilized. “We met up yesterday, the mood in the camp was exceptional. It's just like it always is. Always relaxed, quite focused, but we've always got the driving desire to get that win,” he added. There is media speculation the row could spell the end of Pietersen's career but former England captain Michael Vaughan hoped the South African-born batsman would be given another chance. “If it's true that he sent those texts it will take a long time for him to be allowed back,” Vaughan told BBC radio. “It's been a mad, but also a very sad, week for the England cricket team. There are no real winners but one very big loser and that's Kevin Pietersen.” Meanwhile South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis said England would be a weaker side without Pietersen. “He's a world-class player ... England losing him is a big loss for them. “Any time he's not in your side it does make a big difference.” However, Kallis added: “Cricket's not a one-man sport. There are 11 guys who can take a Test match away from us.” The match will see Strauss make his 100th Test appearance and lead his country in Tests for the 50th time. Strauss who eight years ago marked his debut with a century against New Zealand at Lord's, his Middlesex home ground, would dearly love to match the achievement of Proteas skipper Graeme Smith, who marked his 100th Test with a century at the Oval to help put the tourists 1-0 up. This match is also set to witness Smith, like Strauss a left-handed opener, break Australia great Allan Border's record of 93 Tests as a captain. New Zealand's T20 squad New Zealand named the following squad on Wednesday for Twenty20 matches in India and the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in September and October. Squad: Ross Taylor (c), Doug Bracewell, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Roneel Hira, Rob Nicol, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson. — Agencies
