Kevin Pietersen slams 'deceitful' ECB over England recall snub

""You talk about trust," I said. He simply replied: "I am sorry you feel that way, Kevin."

"They have used the word trust to justify not selecting me, well, trust is a two-way thing. I couldn't believe just half an hour after I had my meeting, the result of it was on the internet and on the BBC airwaves.

"Now I certainly didn't tell anybody, so who did? They say they don't trust me but how can anybody trust them?"

"I have given up my IPL contract, at great expense, to play in county cricket. Surrey did not have any funds free to pay me so I said I would play for nothing, just a donation to charity, and it is horrendous to feel I have been led down the garden path. They knew all along this was a dead end for me."

Earlier, Strauss had undertaken an exhaustive round of interviews at Lord's to stress the decision to offer no way back for Pietersen is one made with a heavy heart and "in the best interests of English cricket".

And the issue of trust - or lack of it - was at the heart of the message from both Strauss and Harrison in spite of an offer to Pietersen to work as a strategist to help improve England's flagging limited-overs fortunes.

That offer was unsurprisingly rejected by Pietersen, suggesting a permanent schism in the pair's working relationship which was soured in 2012 when Pietersen admitted sending "provocative" texts about his then captain to opposition players from their native South Africa.

Strauss said: "Kevin has got brilliant experience in one-day cricket... I think it would be madness not to try to get that information out of his head.

"Ultimately that may be an opportunity for us to start rebuilding trust.

"But as it stands right at the moment - for a number of reasons over a long period of time - there is not trust between Kevin Pietersen and people.

"I don't believe any team can function in any sort of capacity if there's no trust."

Strauss, whose first deed as cricket director was to oversee the sacking of coach Peter Moores, has confirmed a search will begin to find a new incumbent.

Caretaker Paul Farbrace has agreed his role will not rise in the long term above "assistant", and the intention is to have a new coach for the start of the Ashes in July.

Strauss describes Yorkshire coach and former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie as "one of the candidates".

Alastair Cook will continue as Test captain, with Joe Root his deputy, and Eoin Morgan in charge of the one-day international team.

Strauss is hoping all of the above, and specifically his decision on Pietersen, is a starting point for an honest and open tenure.

"We are in a situation where there is a massive trust issue between Kevin and me," he added.

"I wish that wasn't the case. I'm not apportioning blame - it's just a fact.

"That's why I've tried to clarify our position today.

"We hope it provides an opportunity for our young players to go forward without this cloud hanging over their heads and pressure that they don't need."

Meanwhile in an controversy all but eclipsed by the Pietersen saga, Harrison expressed "regret" at the ECB's handling of the dismissal of Moores, which seeped into the public domain before Moores himself had been officially informed.

Harrison said: "Once it was in the public space, it was absolutely clear that what I needed to do was deal with it very quickly - my sole priority being Peter Moores and dealing with him with the respect he deserves as a coach who has done a great job for England over two spells."