Pietersen not a divisive influence - Strauss

England's captain Andrew Strauss has brushed off suggestions of Kevin Pietersen being a potentially divisive member of the squad for this year's Ashes tour. And Strauss is confident Pietersen's big-game mentality will ensure he lifts for the battle for the urn, despite having not made a Test century since the tour of the West Indies in March 2009.

The former Australia coach John Buchanan, who is working with England this Ashes series, has said Pietersen "has the potential to be fragmentary and an individualist" and could be a "major problem". However, Strauss said he had no such concern with Pietersen, who briefly was Strauss's predecessor as captain until a falling out with the then-coach Peter Moores.

"Kevin Pietersen has never been a problem for the England cricket team," Strauss told BBC Sport. "Buchanan is off the mark to say that - I'm sure Kevin will come to the party."

Pietersen, 30, has enjoyed his past tussles with Australia and averages 50.72 in his 12 Tests against them. But his recent form has been well below average, and since the start of England's triumphant 2009 Ashes campaign he has averaged 36.61 with a highest score of 99.

He was dropped for the first time in his England career in August for the limited-overs contests against Pakistan, which prompted him to type out a Twitter tirade. However, Strauss does not believe there is any possibility Pietersen would be cut from the team for the first Test at the Gabba, even if his form in the warm-up matches was poor.

"No, I couldn't see that happening," Strauss said. "We all know what sort of character he is, we know these sort of big Ashes series tend to bring out the best in him and to me that's very encouraging. He's been out of form - that happens to all of us - and anyone who's played international cricket for any length of time knows it only takes one innings to get yourself back in form.

"For Kevin it might be one of the first-class games that precede the Ashes, it may be in the first Test match, but he'll come right - he's too good a player not to. I don't have any concerns that he's going to come right, the key is that he hopefully hits that first Test feeling in great form and ready to make his mark on an Ashes series."

England set off soon for what will be the defining tour of Strauss's captaincy if he leads his men to victory, and they are in the unfamiliar position of being ahead of Australia on the ICC Test rankings. Australia are under pressure after losing their past three Tests, against Pakistan and India, but Strauss was wary of reading too much into Australia's efforts in India.

"The conditions in India are so different," he told Sky Sports. "They've obviously lost a few Tests and have a few questions they need to iron out and that might preoccupy them where we don't have that.

"But we know from past experience that as soon as you arrive in Australia, from day one things get pretty tough. They're a proud side, their record in Australia is outstanding and we're expecting them to be at their best ... so if we want to beat them we have to be better than that."