KEVIN Pietersen admits the controversial demise of his captaincy is a distant memory as England prepare to enter the Ashes series with a united team.

Pietersen’s brief reign as skipper was terminated in January, when he was forced to resign in the wake of his rift with coach Peter Moores, who was sacked.

One of the main flashpoints was their disagreement over the direction of the team with the eventual fall-out doing little to enhance the reputation of English cricket.

Since then Pietersen has been impressed by the progress made under new skipper Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower, enabling him to justify his stand against Moores.

Content to be part of an undivided side, the 28-year-old believes the harmony in England’s dressing room is crucial to their chances of reclaiming the Ashes.

‘‘All the captaincy stuff has gone now because the team is so happy,’’ he said.

‘‘Everyone has gelled and Andy Flower has settled into his job and Straussy is doing so well.

‘‘That is the reason I did what I did because the team wasn’t happy, things weren’t right and England cricket was going nowhere.

‘‘I believe that over the last six months we’ve made huge progress before the series against Australia.

‘‘So I’m very happy and everybody is very happy. I would rather be a player in a happy team than a captain in an unhappy team.

‘‘Everybody can see the progress we’ve made. Even before January there were a lot of players who were unhappy.

There were a lot of captains as well who weren’t happy.

‘‘Both Andys have been absolutely fantastic and fair play to all the players because they’ve all bought into it.

‘‘I don’t know whether we’d have a chance of beating Australia under the previous setup but I wouldn’t have been as confident as I am now.

‘‘I’m not going to say we are going to win but I think we’ll challenge them.’’ Pietersen, who is making swift progress in his rehabilitation from an Achilles injury, offers a simple explanation for England’s recent improvement.

The West Indies were crushed 2-0 this summer after the winter tour to the Caribbean ended with a 1-0 series defeat.

‘‘The team is in better shape because of the way we have played and the happiness in the dressing room,’’ said Pietersen.

‘‘The way that players have had a voice in terms of how we are going to achieve things has been important.”