Sydney, Jan. 10 : Former Australian cricket team coach John Buchanan believes that England opener Andrew Strauss is the best man to lead England, but has questioned whether his predecessor -- Kevin Pietersen -- would be able to commit himself fully to the cause following revelations of his spat with sacked coach Peter Moores six months before the first Ashes Test.

Pietersen reportedly disapproved of Moores''s approach to training and selection. It is also believed the former captain didn''t have the full support of the team, most notably Andrew Flintoff.

In Buchanan''s words, Strauss may be "a good captain and a phlegmatic kind of guy", but "he will need all his diplomatic skills to handle a minefield of a dressing room" in the run-up to the Ashes series.

"It will be an interesting time for Strauss with two former captains in the side, and a third - Michael Vaughan - still floating around. How will he deal with a disgruntled Kevin Pietersen after everything that has happened? The ball is in Pietersen''s court now. It is a question of how he handles the situation and whether he can be a team player," the Sydney Morning herald quotes Buchanan, as saying.

"There have been plenty of past players whose characters didn''t fit into the team dynamic, but whose performance outweighed the disadvantages of having them there. From the England team''s perspective, Pietersen has always been one of those players. It is up to the selectors to look at the cost-benefit ratio," he adds.

Strauss said on Thursday he believed his troubled team had time to heal before the Ashes.

"It''s important to realise the Ashes are still quite a long way away. There''s time for things to heal, for England to get back to playing the kind of cricket we know we need to play to beat Australia," the paper quoted Strauss, as saying.

The England players fly out for a tour of the West Indies on January 21, and opening batsman Strauss said the trip would be an important first step in the team''s bonding.

"I think I am right person to do the job. We are about playing and winning cricket matches. I''m sure that will unite us," Strauss said.

Strauss also revealed that he had spoken to Pietersen and explained his reasons for accepting the captaincy. Pietersen will remain a part of the England team, he added.

Meanwhile, the ECB is expected to announce a new interim coaching team within the next 24 hours and decide whether to add Strauss to the one-day squad for the West Indies tour, after leaving him out of the original line-up. ((ANI))