End This Fixture Overload Pleads Pietersen After Historic Victory

Kevin Pietersen depicted the non-stop treadmill of international cricket as a drug he could not quit yesterday as he renewed his appeal for the England and Wales Cricket Board to give players a break.

The man who now has the power to do something about it - Hugh Morris, newly appointed as managing director of the England team - has every opportunity to investigate Pietersen's belief that England's schedule is too demanding. He is in a hotel room just down the corridor.

Morris is visiting Sri Lanka on his first assignment since his appointment was confirmed last week and he has been given overall responsibility for England team affairs. "When I said I was tired in the summer nobody said anything to me, nobody backed me at all," Pietersen bemoaned. "It would be nice to have the decision taken out of my hands."

But as England celebrated their first win in a major one-day series in Asia for 20 years, Morris gave scant official encouragement to Pietersen, and to all those who believe that the spirit of a reinvigorated one-day side could be undermined by an overloaded schedule. Morris would only say: "The international schedule is under discussion, but we have to balance the need to play the right amount of cricket with commercial considerations."

Pietersen shone with contentment the morning after England took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match Sri Lanka series, believing the tour heralded a new beginning in a year of failed campaigns in the World Cup and Twenty20 World Cup.

"This is No1 in terms of my one-day career," he said. "It looks like everyone at every training session has a purpose, to try to improve an aspect of their game." And with this high came the recognition that the best and most ambitious players will rarely feel able to request a break, but that they are reliant on Morris and his team to draw up a sustainable schedule on their behalf. "It would be hard for me to ask for a tour off, because of the simple fact that I love playing cricket," he said.

England return home on Monday after the final ODI at Premadasa Stadium tomorrow. They then have a month off before returning to Sri Lanka for a three-Test series. Pietersen has been Paul Collingwood's unofficial vice-captain here, but he does not expect to play such a central role when Michael Vaughan resumes the Test captaincy. "It has been good to help Colly out," he said, "but I don't have that sort of role in the Test side - yet."