Andrew Strauss broke his silence over the various accusations in Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography to launch a predictably stout defence of Andy Flower and express his regret over the problems caused for the new England regime headed by Alastair Cook and Peter Moores.

On the official launch day for his book although the fourth of his scatter-gun attack, Pietersen turned his attention to Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, suggesting he was a major obstacle to a future return to the England team – and that he may be considering standing down.

But Strauss was more concerned with defending the legacy of the team he captained, with Flower as coach and Pietersen a senior player – and the damage that the ugly rows surrounding the book could do to England teams of the future.

“A lot of this that’s going on at the moment is madness,” said Strauss on Sky Sports News. “There’s been a lot of rumour, innuendo and opinion. I prefer to stick with the facts. All this tit-for-tat stuff, I don’t think really helps the England cricket team.

“Matt Prior had a massive impact on the English cricket team, both with the bat but also behind the scenes – and was very much the embodiment of the culture we were trying to produce ... one of putting the team first.

“Andy Flower is a guy of complete integrity. If you look at [his] record as coach, it’s second to none. He’s achieved phenomenal things, and rightly should be regarded as one of England’s great coaches.

“The victim here really isn’t Kevin Pietersen, or Flower or Prior or anyone; it’s actually the England cricket team and Alastair Cook and Peter Moores, who’ve got to try to take the side forward. That, to me, is the disappointing thing about this whole episode.”

Strauss also defended the culture of his England teams, which has also come under attack from Pietersen – with support from two former international captains, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith, both of whom are friendly with Pietersen.

“I think good team spirit is all about people having a unity of purpose – we’re all trying to achieve something,” Strauss added. “I believe that’s what we had with the England cricket team. That’s what took us to No1 in the world.

“That idea that the team should come first was central to what we did, and something Andy Flower was very conscious of and protective over. It didn’t matter who fell foul of that – anyone who was testing that would be dealt with accordingly, and rightly so.”

Smith had told a South African radio station: “Having played against them we always used to say if we could get a win or get ahead, that they would turn on each other. A lot of the stuff that he’s touched on in his book, the bullying stuff, you certainly did experience some of it when you played against them and you knew you could use it as an asset to get on the other side of them.”

But Angus Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association, has confirmed that there have been no complaints from Pietersen or anyone else about a bullying culture in the England team.