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Craig Kieswetter (middle, red glasses) says team spirit suffered in the England camp after 2010

Success changed the England team and produced an environment riddled by cliques according to Craig Kiewsetter, the recently retired wicketkeeper batsman who was man of the match in the 2010 World Twenty20 final.

Kieswetter was forced to retire this month after an horrific eye injury, ending a career that included 46 one-day internationals and 25 T20 matches for England.

He describes how a united England team won the World Twenty20 in the West Indies five years ago but the atmosphere changed when the team reached No1 in the world rankings 18 months later and splits developed between English and South Africa-born players. Kieswetter was part of a strong southern African element within the England team which also included the coach, Andy Flower, who was born in Cape Town.

In an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, Kieswetter reveals how players were too scared to ask for time off or breaks from one-day cricket in case it jeopardised their central contract, a battle Kevin Pietersen in particular fought with the England and Wales Cricket Board. “It wasn’t just us competing against the opposition,” Kieswetter said.

“There was a sense that some of us were competing against one another. By the time we were No1 in the world, it was a very different dressing room. Success changed people. Cliques developed. There were jokes made in the dressing room if you had a South African background. When we warmed up in training, we were split into sides: South Africans v English.

“There was lots of talk about it in the media and here we were making it worse. It created an unnecessary divide. A sense of them and us.

“It grew worse. The Test players were together so much that, when the limited-overs players turned up, it felt like you were on the outside. The Test guys hung out with each other; the limited-overs guys hung out. The spirit I experienced in those first few weeks was never there again.” — Telegraph.