Pietersen Needs To Understand All The Difficulties Involved, Says Tim Paine

Australia Test captain Tim Paine said to former England skipper Kevin Pietersen that he understands all the difficulties involved in England players coming to the Ashes. Paine and Pietersen's Twitter exchange comes after the 36-year-old had said that no one was forcing any England player to travel to Australia for the Ashes at the end of the year.

"Let's hope so (Crossed fingers emoji). Understand all of the difficulties involved. We want the best conditions possible for the Eng players and families as we have been previously and will be in the same boat again at some stage (Thumbs up emoji) #ashes," replied Paine to Pietersen on Twitter.

Paine's reply on Saturday came after Pietersen tweeted on Friday, "To be fair to @tdpaine36, it is up to the players to make the decisions on The Ashes tour, not ex has-beens! Hopefully there'll be a positive outcome over the weekend. The Ashes is the greatest rivalry & battle in Test match cricket -- and we need Test Match cricket to survive! (Folded hands emoji)."

It all started with Pietersen slamming the quarantine conditions in a now-deleted tweet on September 27. "There is NO WAY I would go to The Ashes this winter. ZERO chance! Unless the ridiculous quarantine rules were squashed and my family could travel with zero restrictions. Players are now done with bubbles! DONE!!!!!!!"

Paine, in his Friday morning radio show Jack and Painey on SEN Hobart, hit back at Pietersen, who was a member of the England team winning the Ashes in Australia in 2010/11.

"He (Pietersen) is an expert on everything, there is no doubt about that. If anyone is talking to Kevin, no one is forcing you to come, no one is forcing any England player to come. That is the beauty of the world we live in, you have a choice -- if you don't want to come, don't come."

"'Kev' mate, leave it to the players, let them speak. We have not heard one England player come out and say they will not be coming. I think it's been beat up and people like Kevin like to get themselves a little bit of exposure in the media whenever they can."

The first Ashes Test is scheduled for December 8 at The Gabba in Brisbane. Australia currently retains the urn.