Swann rejects KP's bullying culture claims, says batsman was already headed downhill

Former England bowler Graeme Swann has insisted that their was no culture of bullying in the team's dressing room and claimed that ousted batsman Kevin Pietersen's career had already been heading downhill before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sacked him.

The former off-spinner's comments are unlikely to lighten the distress currently hanging over English cricket following six days in which Pietersen has been a constant presence in the media as he tells his side of an increasingly unedifying story as detailed in his new autobiography, KP.

But what would raise Pietersen's hackles even higher is Swann's suggestion that he was over the hill at the time of the 2013-14 Ashes series. Swann said that he has never been a man for statistics, but statistics would seem to suggest so, The Independent reported.

Swann also said that maybe it would have been wiser for the ECB to have removed Pietersen from international duty quietly by suggesting that his form had entered a permanent dip, adding that there would certainly have been a lot less bloodletting.

On the allegations Pietersen made in his book, Swann said that there was no bullying, and added that certain things people might have been led to believe happened did not. He said that the fact is that so many people have been interviewed and no one is supporting these claims.

Swann said that someone is trying to sell a book and in two weeks' time, once the inevitable round of interviews is done, no one would care. He added that he does not think Pietersen has done himself many favours, but further stated that then the batsman has always been different.