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Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith was 'very surprised' by England's decision to axe batsman Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen was axed in February after England's horror Ashes tour in Australia, which ended in a 5-0 series whitewash to the hosts.
England captain Alastair Cook said on Tuesday the reason for Pietersen's axing would become 'clearer soon'.
Smith, who retired from international cricket in March, said there had to be very good reasons for dumping a 34-year-old with over 8,000 Test runs to his name.
"I was obviously very surprised, you certainly have to have very valid reasons if you're cutting a player of that quality," Smith said.
"I think England, to have a match winner like that and to get rid of him, surely you have to have had a good reason. No-one has given that reason as of yet.
"Their loss is our gain though, Surrey County Cricket Club get Kevin now and hopefully he can play a big role taking us forward."
England's form has seen them slip to fourth in the Test rankings, fifth in ODIs and eighth in T20s.
Smith said the biggest challenge for international teams was performing away from home, with England's last Test road win coming in December 2012.
"I think England play very well in England and I think a lot of guys feel comfortable performing here," Smith said.
"The challenges are always when you leave, playing away from home seems to be the biggest challenge in international cricket today.
"Whoever can create that consistency away from home ends up being the top team in the world and that's probably why we were there for the last few years.
"I think if England perform well then good for them, but certainly as a captain I would like to have had someone like Kevin around."
Smith said he believes he has left South African cricket in good shape, but refused to comment on who he believes should be the next captain.
"I don't know (who should be the next captain) to be honest with you," he said.
"It's not something that I really want to get into now, I need to take some time to think about it.
"Obviously, I've just retired a few weeks ago so obviously I need to take some time to create a little bit of perspective on that."