Cricket: Pietersen: Injury Won't Hold Me Back

It is not yet two months since Kevin Pietersen, England's supreme limited-overs batsman, hurled himself down the MCG pitch towards the bowler, Glenn McGrath, and felt the ball thud into his ribcage. The damage it caused - broken ribs - sidelined him for the rest of the Australian tour and disrupted the momentum he would have liked to carry forward to the World Cup. Monday's practice match against Bermuda was his first innings since.

So how had it felt? Pietersen puffed out his cheeks and thought. "It is hard to tell what it was like," he said. "It is the most painful injury I've ever had, just excruciating. I knew it was a problem when I couldn't breathe." He had watched it properly for the first time only the previous day. "I was down on the ground and I simply couldn't breathe. I've been hit in the ribs loads of times, from bowling machines and the like. I got hit the other day, in fact. But I never believed McGrath could break my ribs."

The conundrum comes tomorrow at Arnos Vale where England and Australia meet in what is their final practice match before the tournament starts. As yet, he says he is unsure whether the previous outcome of his extravagance will dissuade him from repeating the exercise. "I go and express myself on the cricket field and bat according to situations," he said diplomatically, recognising a minefield of potential headlines.

"I pick bowlers, areas I want to hit and scoring options. That's how I play. If it means not running down the pitch or if it means running down the pitch, it just will depend. So if I figure that's how I am going to score off McGrath then maybe I will. But if it is a case of nudge and nurdle then that's what I'll do. It was an attempt to upset his line and length and I think overall I did pretty well out of it through the winter. Who knows? I might have to do it here." It would be totally in character, though, for the purposes of that game should he encounter McGrath, not just to try the shot again but to lay down the ground rules and attempt it first up. He is that sort of a player.

Much depends on Pietersen if England are to make any impact on the tournament. They won the one-day series in Australia in his absence, but even so looked lightweight without his physical presence in the middle order and his extraordinary capacity to find and clear the ropes. A case has been made for getting him in as early as possible, as Australia do with Ricky Ponting. But he is happy with his lot at second wicket down.

"Four is fine," he said. "I've been batting there for a while now and I'm used to the role.

"Our strategy will be not to take undue risk in the first 15 overs, to reach 80 to a 100 for one or two, and that suits me. I'm not a player who likes to bat 40 or 50 overs. Ideally I would like to come in at about 15 overs, get my eye in and then go at about 35 overs. It is what the Australians have managed to do so successfully with the likes of Andrew Symonds and with me, Andrew Flintoff at six, Jamie Dalrymple, who batted beautifully the other day and some strong lower-order batters, we have the capacity to do that ourselves.

"We will definitely have to adapt if the pitch here in St Vincent is anything to go by. It reminded me of a couple of the Indian tracks from the last time we were there and we needed a patience game then. The first 15 overs the ball can come on nicely. But when it gets soft and the spinners come on, it's sweep, nudge and nurdle. You can't just hit through the line of the ball because it is stopping and turning. That never used to be my game but it is all part of the learning curve. If the foundations are good we should go well."

Prior stakes claim

If England were having problems finding the best wicketkeeper, the selectors' dilemma will have intensified after two candidates on the A tour enjoyed a magnificent match together in yesterday's five-wicket defeat of Bangladesh in the first one-day international. Matt Prior and Steven Davies were both in the side in Bogra, with Davies taking the gloves and producing a slick direct-hit run-out as Bangladesh made 261 for eight. Prior finished with 84 from 72 balls and the two keepers were undefeated for the sixth wicket with 80 from 10 overs to guide England home with three overs remaining. The win was easier than had seemed likely after Nazimuddin, who was dropped by Prior, scored 108 to set England a stiff target. Will Jefferson made a swift 68 before England found progress awkward against the spin of Mehrab Hossain. Nigel Fox