Cricket World Cup: Pietersen Identifies Murali As Biggest Threat to England Progress

Kevin Pietersen believes England's World Cup starts in earnest tomorrow when they take on Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in St Johns in the first of their four crucial Super Eight matches against Test-playing nations. And he says that if England are going to kickstart one of the toughest weeks in their one-day history with two points against a side who beat them 5-0 last summer and many regard as potential finalists, they must do it against the best bowler he has ever faced.

It comes as no surprise that the man in question is the off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, whose 443 one-day wickets are in excess of 100 more than England's likely line-up has taken in total. While Pietersen is not the first batsman to speak in hushed tones about Sri Lanka's champion and life-force, it was the height of the pedestal on which he placed him - higher even than Shane Warne - which raised eyebrows.

"Warney only bowls a couple of bowls, as does Murali, but Murali spins the ball both ways, whereas Warney you can sort of counteract," he said. "Warne is still a great bowler, but Muralitharan will end up with the most wickets in Test history."

Pietersen spent yesterday morning launching one delivery after another out of the nets at the old Antigua Recreation ground and into a nearby car park, much to the fury of one of the attendants. But if a few bonnets took a battering, then at least he was revving himself up for his toughest assignment yet in the World Cup. "Muralitharan is the hardest bowler in the world to face," he said. Harder than Warne? "Much harder." You could almost hear his Hampshire team-mate scoffing all the way from Australia.

Lurking behind Pietersen's glitzy exterior is a shrewd cricket brain. So when he pays a compliment like that before a match that will test England for the first time in this competition since they were blown away by New Zealand on March 16, you know it is not meant lightly. Only the Australia trio of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Warne himself have dismissed Pietersen more times in international cricket than Murali, and they have all played two series against him to Murali's one.

With Pietersen currently No1 in the one-day rankings and Murali joint-second in the bowling, tomorrow's match could provide a game within a game. And if Pietersen manages to repeat the outrageous left-handed sweep for six, which surprised Murali in a Test at Edgbaston last summer, a mini-epic could be on the cards.

"I've got a method I use against him that has been successful," said Pietersen. "If it comes off, it comes off. If it doesn't, it doesn't. The bloke's the greatest bowler in the world and he can spin the ball both ways, all day, every day. It's a case of me making one mistake and he's got me out, so I'll try not to make that mistake. Does he say much? He has so much talk on the cricket ball he doesn't need to."

Pietersen stressed the need for England to put themselves in with a shout for a semi-final place by beating Sri Lanka tomorrow or Australia on Sunday. "It's a huge week," he said. "We can't leave Antigua on Monday with two points, because that's going to make it really hard on ourselves. There's no laughing, no joking in the camp right now. There's enjoyment, but there's a lot of hard work going in."

It is clear Duncan Fletcher's concerns about a lack of intensity against Ireland have been given a frank airing. "We've had a good chat about that," said Pietersen. "We know we've got to have our fingers on the pulse this week. When you're playing Canada, Kenya or Ireland, you think a few wickets means the job's done. But the boys know about keeping the intensity going. We know against a team like Sri Lanka or Australia you can't slip up for five or 10 overs in a one-day game. You've got to nail the full 100 overs."