Kevin Pietersen is increasingly confident he can make a return to the England team following the side’s shambolic exit from the World Cup.

Standard Sport understands Pietersen has had conversations with intermediaries acting for the ECB, leading him to believe there may be a way back for him, after he was effectively sacked in February 2014.

Colin Graves, the incoming ECB chairman, is thought to be open to a possible return to the side for Pietersen — even though it has the potential to cause considerable internal conflict at Lord’s.

Pietersen is thought to be confident of holding a meeting with the ECB, possibly as early as this month. He is due to travel to Australia and New Zealand this week, where he will work as a pundit for BBC Test Match Special at the World Cup, which ends on March 29.

Were such a meeting to take place, it is logical to assume Graves would be present, as would Tom Harrison, the board’s new chief executive, and Paul Downton, the managing director of England cricket who played a key role in casting Pietersen aside.

Pietersen appeared to hint at the possibility today, when he tweeted: “I really do think changes are going to be made & positive things going to start to happen for the good of English cricket.”

Pietersen was first banished from the team after sending provocative texts about the then captain Andrew Strauss to friends in the South Africa team during the Test series in 2012. He returned after going through a period of “reintegration” with angry team-mates.

Although there are many obstacles to clear, there now appears a possibility that Pietersen might be in the England side for this summer’s Ashes — something that appeared unthinkable less than two weeks ago.

But the landscape of English cricket has changed in that short time. Graves set the ball rolling by refusing to rule out a return for Pietersen in radio and newspaper interviews on March 1. The team’s dreadful performances at the World Cup, and subsequent early exit, means the calls for change are deafening.

Graves specified that Pietersen would need to play first-class cricket to merit consideration. He played T20 cricket for Surrey last summer and both Hampshire and Somerset are interested in recruiting him, if Pietersen were prepared to ignore his Indian Premier League deal, to play in the County Championship.

I really do think changes are going to be made & positive things are going to start to happen for the good of English cricket... — Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) March 10, 2015

If Pietersen did return, there would be severe consequences. Standard Sport revealed last week that Graves’s comments, which seemed to offer an olive branch to Pietersen, had caused significant unrest within the ECB boardroom, and risked creating a split.

When Downton dismissed Pietersen, he hung his hat on Test captain Alastair Cook, who no longer wanted Pietersen in his side.

National selector James Whitaker has said, “there is no way Pietersen will ever get back into an England team”. Peter Moores, the coach, is in his second spell with England — having lost the job along with then-captain Pietersen early in 2009, when the batsman said he could not work with Moores.

Giles Clarke, the long-time chairman and incoming president of the ECB, is no ally of Pietersen. Andy Flower, the former coach, is in a similar position and retains an influential role.

It is nearly impossible, therefore, for a new regime to open the door to Pietersen without closing it on several others.