Pietersen texts about England captain aired

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SORELY MISSED: Andrew Strauss (left) has retired from cricket while Kevin Pietersen (right) has been dropped after sending controversial text messages to members of the South African team.

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Kevin Pietersen's international career is on the ropes following damning revelations of the controversial text messages he sent to his South African counterparts.

The polarising cricketer was accused of calling Andrew Strauss an offensive term in Afrikaans and advising South Africa's quicks how to bowl to the battling England captain during the second Test at Leeds this month.

Pietersen was dumped for the third Test at Lord's in the wake of the scandal which erupted last week.

The Mail on Sunday said that former England captain Pietersen had referred to Strauss as a "doos" - the equivalent of calling someone a "c...".

The Sunday Times said the flamboyant South African-born right-handed batsman suggested to his opponents to bowl round the wicket to the struggling Strauss.

Pietersen apologised for the texts but his defence that the messages were just "banter" and a bit "provocative" looks a bit flimsy.

The betrayal could be the final straw with English cricket authorities still calling on Pietersen to divulge the full content of his texts to the South African players.

"If he refuses to show the contents of the texts then he's finished and if he does show the texts then he's probably finished anyway," a source close to the England dressing room told The Mail on Sunday.

- AAP