Cricket: Pietersen Out of Australia Tour

England's World Cup preparations have been thrown into disarray after Kevin Pietersen fractured a rib when he was struck by a bouncer from Glenn McGrath in the opening game of the one-day series and was ruled out of the rest of the Australia tour.

Pietersen, England's only world-class one-day batsman, will return home early next week and described himself as "absolutely distraught". His last act on a bitter-sweet tour was to promise Australia he would recover to face them in a World Cup warm-up game on March 9. Official estimates place his recovery time at between three and five weeks.

Pietersen doubled up in pain after he was hit by McGrath as he attempted his charge-down-the-wicket routine against the Australian fast bowler, but after a scan confirmed his worst fears he dismissed suggestions he would now abandon the tactic as too dangerous. "I don't think it will stop me doing this in the future," he said. "I don't see it as a hazard. And I don't think the injury will concern me for the World Cup."

Pietersen top-scored for England with 82 from 91 balls, but it was Ricky Ponting, Australia's captain, who was able to bask in an untroubled eight-wicket victory. "It is a really big blow for England," he said. "Pietersen has been their best batsman throughout the summer. A lot of their one-day cricket tactics are based around him and they will miss him a lot."

England will announce Pietersen's replacement today, but they will not quibble with Ponting's assessment: he is irreplaceable. Only he and Andrew Flintoff can sweep a game away from the opposition with the power of their strokeplay. "It is not how I planned it," he said. "I planned to give it a real good go in the one-day series and draw a line under the Ashes, to try to assist all of us to take home some victories.

"I have been hit quite a few times in the ribs and have had a bit of ice, and a bit of this and a bit of that, but this time when I was hit I couldn't breathe for a few minutes so I knew that it was serious. It restricted my breathing and it restricted my strokeplay. I am a quick healer and I will just have to bide my time. There is no treatment that can speed this process up."

England will now have serious misgivings about whether, shorn of Pietersen's batting talents, they are equipped to outgun the third team in the triangular tournament, New Zealand, and boost their flagging confidence by reaching the Commonwealth Bank final.

Pietersen urged his team-mates to learn from a great Australian side. "If we gain some experience and pick up some tips about how a formidable Australian side plays, and improve our game by 10% or 15% . . . the World Cup is a knockout tournament and, who knows, we could have an outside chance of doing well in the competition."