Ask not for whose career the Bell has tolled - as always, it’s all about Kevin Pietersen

The decision to axe Ian Bell for the tour of South Africa was dismissed as 'pathetic' by KP

Kevin Pietersen (left) grabbed the headlines again with his defence of Ian Bell last week

The golfer Andy Sullivan has a trip into space pending, the reward for holing out in the Netherlands last year. Sponsors Xcor Space Expeditions could save a heap of cash by bringing the outer limits to Sullivan. Half an hour in the company of Kevin Pietersen should do the trick. Our Kev is definitely “out there”, spouting views that deserve to be shipped to the upper atmosphere.

The decision to axe Ian Bell for the tour of South Africa was dismissed as “pathetic” by KP, who, on a bizarre video he posted himself, invited those who made it to have a look at themselves. As a tireless peacock, Pietersen knows a thing or two about the inward gaze, and in making the point about Bell he was vicariously and oh so transparently also making it about himself.

How could they ditch a bloke of his experience against this South African attack? Pietersen pondered in faux distress. After all, didn’t the selectors stand by “Captain Cook” during a similarly fallow period? For that we can read, “How could they ditch me?” Oh do let it go, Kev. Enough of this puerile, unsolicited attention seeking. You have had your day, and Bell his.

The experience of which Pietersen speaks has returned just 1,023 runs in 37 knocks since January 2014, and 30 per cent of those came in two innings. Yes, they were hefty contributions, 167 and 143 respectively, against India in July 2014 and the West Indies last April. Yet far more representative of what Bell has given England for the best part of two years are 17 innings of 10 runs or fewer and a further six of 20 or less.

It is precisely on the basis of this “experience” the selectors made the call. Bell was lucky to last as long as he did. But, aside from the merits of the case for or against Bell, it is the bloke making all the noise who is really being projected. Any opportunity to enter the arena from which he has been cast out, Pietersen takes. It is, as always, about Kevin, since it connects him by association to his own exclusion, and his admittedly clumsy treatment at the hands of the England cricket director, Andrew Strauss.

Pietersen might be better served reflecting on how England did without him last summer, retaining the Ashes in a thrilling series. In the drawn, two-match series prior against New Zealand we saw the first glimpses of a policy shift as England went after the opposition with bat and ball in a way that made Pietersen disappear down the agenda.

The middle order is still in a state of flux, and the problem of identifying a reliable opening partner for Cook remains unresolved, but England cannot be said to have made a backward step since looking beyond Pietersen. And now the removal of Bell is another important development in the repositioning of the team under the coaches Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace.

The recent Test defeat against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates was a depressing reversion to type, but not wholly unexpected on tracks that expose England’s real problem, a lack of express pace and match-winning spinners. Besides, South Africa, the world’s highest-ranked Test side, are playing a couple of time zones to the east in exactly the same conditions, and are on the receiving end of a similar mauling against India.

England bounced back impressively in the one-day series against Pakistan, with Jos Buttler reconnecting with his muse at last to lift the mood ahead of the trip across the Equator. Though obviously different disciplines, there is enough connectivity with the Test squad to make the one-day result significant. Buttler might not be sufficiently restored to resume his Test career ahead of Jonny Bairstow but, in terms of confidence and belief, others continued to press on, not least Alex Hales and James Taylor.

And so by increments the England team evolves towards the bright future promised in the spring. And Bell’s removal is a necessary part of that. If Bell’s Test average of 42.69 does not do justice to the breadth of talent at his disposal, then it offers a fair comment on the flaws in a mentality that prevented him delivering consistently on all that sumptuous ability.

Contrary to what Pietersen would have us believe, Bell’s inclusion would not have been a bulwark against arguably the finest pace attack in the world but a point of uncertainty and ultimately breakability, far more likely to return a blob than a ton.

So, let Hales and Nick Compton fight for the right to party up top, send out Joe Root first wicket down, Taylor at four, Moeen Ali at five, Bell at home and let Pietersen finally come to terms with life as a former England cricketer and find peace with himself.