Last weekend, Pietersen was dramatically dropped from England's squad for this week's third and final Test at Lord's, despite scoring a superb 149 at Headingley, after failing to reveal the contents of those text messages.
Some of those texts areAs another day in the extraordinary saga drew to a close, there was no formal word from the ECB as to whether they had received an apology from Pietersen.
Earlier, Strauss entered the debate over the omission of Pietersen, saying he regretted "dirty laundry" being aired in public.
"I've always got on with Kevin," Strauss told Sky Sports. "I've tried to be honest with him; he's been honest with me.
"That's why this has all been a bit of a surprise to me.
"I think the discontent that Kevin had with the board over his contract situation was one that the players didn't get involved in - and I didn't really get involved in, if I'm honest.
"But over the last week I have had to get involved because there have been issues a little bit more central to his relationship with the other players and our ability to perform out in the middle."
Strauss added: "I'm a big believer in not airing dirty laundry in public.
"It's one of our core values in our team that what goes on in the dressing room stays in the dressing room.
"Any time anyone has fallen foul of that they have been disciplined - and rightly so.
"It's about mutual respect and trust, and that is a core issue that is central to resolving this."
Tensions between Pietersen and the England hierarchy have been escalating all summer, with the South Africa-born batsman retiring from limited overs internationals after England refused his wish to opt out of 50-over matches while still playing Twenty20s.
Then came his extraordinary press conference after the Headingley Test, where he speculated the match at Lord's might be his "last Test".
And last week, on the eve of the squad announcement for Lord's, he took to YouTube to insist he was now available to play for England in all formats.
Meanwhile England's Stuart Broad has insisted he'd no role in a parody Twitter account for Pietersen.
The account - KP Genius - was set up by a friend of Broad, Richard Bailey, and had been thought to have contributed to dressing room tensions, with Pietersen reportedly concerned some of his team-mates were involved.
But all-rounder Broad insisted: "I would like to confirm that I had no involvement in this whatsoever.
"As has been widely reported Mr Bailey is a friend of mine, but we had no conversations regarding this issue at all and I am pleased that he has now decided to close the parody account down."
Bailey said: ''Yes, the parody was me.
''No professional cricketers were involved in it ... I would also like to apologise to anyone I know involved with England Cricket who I may have put in an awkward or embarrassing position.''
England, 1-0 down in the three-match series, must win at Lord's if they are to prevent South Africa replacing them as the world's No.1 Test side.
Meanwhile, South Africa's Jacques Kallis believes Kevin Pietersen will bounce back after his dramatic omission.
Kallis - the outstanding all-rounder of his generation and whose Test batting average of 57.30 puts him among the all-time elite - is certain this is not the end of South Africa-born Pietersen's international career.
''I'm sure they'll sort it out,'' Kallis said at Lord's. ''He's too good a player to stay out of the international scene. I've no doubts they'll come to an agreement and something will be sorted out.
''These sorts of things are going to happen throughout his career, a few things have happened. I don't think it'll affect him, I think he'll bounce back and I think he's still got a lot of cricket ahead of him.''
Kallis, 36, said Pietersen's absence left England with a big hole to fill.
''He's a world-class player and he's proven that over many years and put in big performances for England so I'm sure he's going to be missed, but England's got some good players as well.''
Kallis remains wary of an England side he predicts will put the Pietersen saga to one side when the match begins.
''I think the guys are professional enough to get on with the job,'' he said.
''Obviously they are going to want to come out and win the Test match, and once a Test match starts, whatever happened before that, the guys tend to put it behind them and just move forward and look forward.''
AFP
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