Pietersen backs struggling duo

Kevin Pietersen has urged England's selectors to keep faith with their struggling middle order by claiming there is no one in county cricket better than those currently in the team.

Neither Ian Bell or Paul Collingwood have performed consistently recently but Pietersen believes the selectors should maintain the top order by claiming possible candidates to replace them like Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara and Robert Key were not as good as the current line-up.

"It's obviously a struggle but at the end of the day I saw on television at tea time a list of the batsmen who are the top run-scorers in county cricket at the moment and none of those guys are better than Ian Bell or Paul Collingwood," Pietersen said.

"Not one of them can touch them, so it is just a matter of time. The cycle of life has it that you're going to have good days and bad days."

The selectors meet up again at the start of July to pick the squad for the opening Test against South Africa at Lord's.