Prior stands his ground

In the latest of a series of angry Twitter messages from Morgan, he turned his attention to the England wicketkeeper.

Morgan, a friend of Pietersen's, has spent much of the past 24 hours - since the England and Wales Cricket Board announced a parting of ways with the South Africa-born batsman - criticising key management figures on Twitter.

There has been no response from England's former team director Andy Flower or captain Alastair Cook, neither of whom has a Twitter account, despite much baiting in recent times from the prolific Morgan.

Prior, however, refused to stay silent - reacting at length, in six consecutive tweets, to Morgan's account of what he believes the wicketkeeper said in a team meeting during England's Ashes whitewash in Australia this winter.

"I don't do this PR, spinning media rubbish but I refuse to be attacked by a bloke that knows very little about what goes on in the England set-up - apart from rumour, gossip and hearsay from certain individuals (most of whom I'd take with a pinch of salt!!)," Prior tweeted.

"Maybe I was recorded or 'hacked' - but if not I'd like to see where these words I apparently said have come from?"

Morgan insists Prior was critical of Flower, when speaking to team-mates, and "stabbed [Pietersen] in the back".

"I'm not the kind of person to divulge what is said in team meetings but all I will say is that Flower, Cook and the rest of my team mates know exactly what I said & the way in which it was meant!" said Prior, who was a significant peace-maker when a then disaffected Pietersen was temporarily left out of the England team during his vexed summer of contract wrangles in 2012.

He added: "There is no story here, just an attempt to knock someone who has only ever had the team's best interests at heart and tried my best on and off the field to help the England cricket team.

"I can hold my head up high in that knowledge!"