Cricket: England Injuries Play on Pietersen's Mind

Kevin Pietersen has hit hundreds in South Africa while being cold-shouldered by his former compatriots and has come through an Ashes decider with his reputation enhanced. So when he says he is beginning to feel the heat, you know all is not well.

Having top-scored with 73 in Tuesday's 46-run defeat by Sri Lanka at The Oval - a result that leaves an injury-stricken England 2-0 down in the five-match series - Pietersen provided an insight into the fragility of the home dressing room when he admitted: "I do feel the extra bit of pressure and I do put that little bit more into my mental preparation because we've lost such valuable players. It's a different batting line-up from what I've been used to playing for England, and it definitely plays on my mind a little bit."

True to form, he immediately reminded everyone - just in case we ever doubted him - that pressure is something he thrives on. But coming from a man whose jaunty confidence has provided the silver lining on England's increasingly grey one-day cloud, his words felt like a call to arms; even a player who soaks up the limelight as easily as he does needs to feel that he is fighting for a shared cause.

His assessment of his 76-ball innings - "yeah, 73, not really good enough" - reflects a wider malaise. In England's last 20 one-day internationals, Marcus Trescothick's unbeaten 104 against Australia at Headingley and 113 against Ireland last week have been their only three-figure scores. By contrast, Sanath Jayasuriya's 122 at The Oval was his 20th hundred in the shorter form of the game - two more than the entire England team put together.

Despite his recent failure to convert fifties into hundreds Pietersen still averages an astonishing 63 in 26 one-day international innings, so there was understandable concern about the blow to his left knee that left him hobbling for much of Tuesday's knock. He should be fit for Saturday's third match in Chester-le-Street but he is conscious enough of his own standing to join in the shudders at the thought of the alternative.

"We've lost Flintoff, Giles, Jones and Vaughan," he said. "If I went down it's not going to help matters, is it? So I think it's pretty important that I do play on Saturday. England definitely need me turning up."

Toeing a well worn party line, Pietersen asked for patience as England seek to build a team capable of avoiding embarrassment in next year's World Cup.

"You can't compare this team to the one that played in the Ashes," he said. "It's just a case of checking out the strength and depth of the squad for when the big guns come back. If you've got a cricket brain, if you know much about the game, you'll see how the injuries have affected the team."

This is true enough, but at some stage over the next few months England are going to have to stop feeling sorry for themselves. If they do not, even Pietersen may begin to lose some of his swagger.