text: If Andrew Strauss becomes England’s new supremo, the comeback hopes of Kevin Pietersen, which gained momentum with the sacking of Paul Downton, would come to an abrupt halt. Strauss said on Saturday that he can see no way back for the man he fell out with so badly over the messages Pietersen sent to South African opponents apparently criticising him as captain three years ago. Pietersen begins his county comeback with Surrey against Oxford University in The Parks on Sunday having been encouraged to return to the domestic game by ECB chairman-elect Colin Graves and emboldened by the demise of Downton, the man who sacked him last year. Andrew Strauss (right) says the Kevin Pietersen affair is a 'distraction' for English cricket . Strauss and Pietersen pictured during happier times during the 2011 series with India . Yet his hopes of an England return would seem over if Strauss succeeds in becoming the new England director of cricket after throwing his hat into the ring on Friday. ‘It’s very important for English cricket to move on from the Kevin Pietersen situation,’ said Strauss, who infamously called Pietersen ‘a complete c***’ on air last season when he thought his microphone had been switched off. ‘That threatens to envelop everything at the moment. The story has become more of a distraction than him actually playing. It’s become that big. The ECB and the England team’s efforts to move on from him haven’t worked so far but by winning that will allow them to move forward.’ Strauss’s views are as much from a cricketing point of view as a personal one, even though his feelings towards Pietersen clearly have not changed. ‘If you look at it from pure cricketing logic, after the Ashes is over, it’s quite hard to see a situation where Kevin Pietersen would come back into the side,’ Strauss told Wisden editor and Sportsmail cricket writer Lawrence Booth on the Lord’s podcast. ‘You’re building towards the next Ashes in two and a half years time and the World Cup in 2019. Pietersen has rejoined Surrey for the county season in an attempt to regain his England place . Pietersen's chances of a recall have been boosted by the likely appointment of Michael Vaughan in the new ECB director of cricket role created following the sacking of Paul Downton as managing director . ‘I think if you were to bring Kevin Pietersen back it would be a short-term measure to help you win the Ashes but I can’t see that happening personally because there are too many bridges to build in too short a period of time. I think after the Ashes the story does move forward at that point.’ Michael Vaughan remains favourite to pip Strauss for a role that would have powers not enjoyed by anyone in English cricket since Ray Illingworth in the Nineties. Graves and new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison want to overhaul the system and make the new man more the equivalent of a football manager than a managing director, as was Downton. That means the director of cricket will probably be a hands-on presence in the dressing room with overall responsibility for coaching and selection, with the panel of selectors almost certainly being disbanded. There were key figures who wanted Strauss to take the job when Hugh Morris stood down 18 months ago, not least the Welshman himself, but at that stage Strauss felt it was too early for him and he has dabbled in commentary while not being a natural at it like Nasser Hussain and Atherton. Pietersen and Vaughan pictured together on England duty at Lord's in 2008 . Strauss, who played in 82 Tests with Pietersen, believes his recall would only be a short-term measure . Now the new regime at the ECB have moved the goalposts and the man Graves and Harrison want is clearly Vaughan, if they can persuade him to give up his extensive lucrative media work and other cricketing interests. Vaughan is here to commentate on England’s three-Test series against West Indies for Test Match Special and intriguingly is staying at the same hotel as the team. It will be fascinating to see whether he changes a hard-hitting commentary style that has seen him criticise several of the players who he may well now take charge of, with the ECB looking to make a quick appointment. Vaughan will need to build some bridges himself with a number of England players if he takes over but clearly Graves is not concerned by what has happened in the past and feels his fellow Yorkshireman is perfect for the role. Jimmy Anderson, who will be playing his 100th Test needing four wickets to become England’s leading wicket-taker, did not want to get drawn into which of his former England captains should get the big job. England bowler Jimmy Anderson refused to be drawn on who he would prefer to take up the role . ‘I don’t really have an opinion because we’re concentrating on building up to a Test,’ said Anderson. ‘That’s for the two new guys in charge. They’ve obviously got a clear plan of where they want to take English cricket and I’m sure they’ll get the right man for the job.’ Even though it was a diplomatic answer it was perhaps revealing that Anderson then named Hussain and Strauss as the best captains he has worked under, a view that was consistent with his autobiography where he offered little praise to the 2005 Ashes-winning captain Vaughan. Clearly, Peter Moores and even Alastair Cook will be almost auditioning for Vaughan in this series and it is impossible to see Moores in particular carrying on as coach alongside a man in Vaughan who has been so critical of him. The distractions that Strauss talked about, not just those provided by Pietersen, clearly still loom large over an England team who, it should be remembered, won the last three Tests they have played. It is imperative, not least for their captain and coach, that they continue that run here.
target: Former skipper Strauss says Pietersen return is out of the question .
  KP would 'have too many bridges to build' before coming back .
  Batsman has joined Surrey to rediscover form ahead of Ashes .
  But Strauss says ongoing saga is too much of a 'distraction'
  Strauss has been linked to ECB director of cricket role .
  But another former captain, Michael Vaughan, is favourite .