England v South Africa: Kevin Pietersen row is an unwelcome distraction for Andrew Strauss That regular buzz is one of the things he could miss if he does not patch things up quickly with Flower and the England and Wales Cricket Board, though their mood appears to be hardening against him. The 30-man squad for the World T20 has been picked and has to be named by tomorrow. Pietersen has not been selected as he is not available, though Geoff Miller, the national selector, was not ruling out a late change should Pietersen come out of retirement and accept the ECB's terms of employment without condition. Ten years ago, Flower would have been forced to manage an awkward customer like Pietersen but that was because credible replacements were rare. Now they are not so scarce he can dismiss Pietersen's ultimatums without fear that his withdrawal would drastically weaken the side. Just witness the flourishing of Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara in the two recent one-day series following Pietersen's absence. James Anderson underwent a similar flowering after Andrew Flintoff retired and is now England's best bowler, so nobody is irreplaceable. There is a feeling, certainly among those who help manage the affairs of the players that Pietersen, for all his obsessions over money, had not thought through the financial implications of jumping off the England one-day roster. For starters, the base payment of his central contract will have changed, as will his share of the players" pool, which will have dwindled now he is available for Test cricket only. One well-placed source puts the amount at a healthy six-figure sum. To offset that he has a £1.3 million contract with the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League, half of which he is allowed to play in under the terms of his ECB contract. As his latest demands have revealed, he is chasing the other half upon which he will have to pay agents" fees and, should he bring it back to England, 50 per cent tax. As the source points out, by chasing his remaining IPL money Pietersen does not stand to gain much at all over his old England contract and could, should England win the World T20 and Champions Trophy next year, end up worse off. Pietersen's previous IPL team, the Deccan Chargers, are certainly worse off after a London High Court judge awarded £10.5 million plus costs to Tim Wright, the franchise's former chief executive, after they had sacked him three years ago. Wright had to sell his house to pay his legal fees claiming it was "vindication of my decision not to be cowed by the bullying of a large corporation." Although an unwelcome distraction, most of the England players have become used to the soap opera surrounding Pietersen and will hopefully file this latest saga away next to episode 31, which ran six weeks ago when he retired from international one-day cricket. If they do not, they might not be able to take full advantage of a South African side still reeling from the loss of Mark Boucher, their veteran wicketkeeper, and which still looks short of match readiness. Boucher's absence (he retired from all cricket with immediate effect after being struck in the eye by a bail during the opening match of the tour) will probably be filled by JP Duminy, whose presence will strengthen the batting, and AB de Villiers, the visitor's best batsman who will take the gloves. Making de Villiers keep wicket is a risk for South Africa and one that England might be able to exploit later this week at the Oval providing Pietersen's latest stunt hasn't disturbed their concentration too much.