Painkillers to get Pietersen through Ashes

Kevin Pietersen will have pain-killing injections to play in the Ashes as he is unable to take rest during a crowded calendar. Pietersen is suffering from a back injury which has been diagnosed by the England medical team as affecting his achilles.

Pietersen had a scare on the morning of the Netherlands match, when he woke up but could not walk. "I woke up on Friday and I couldn't walk down the stairs of my home," he said. "It was a huge shock because everything had been going to plan and I'd been playing pain free in the warm-ups. It was as frustrating as anything because I love playing for England and hate missing games.

"I then had intensive treatment and it's been diagnosed as a back problem that affects the achilles. There's nothing wrong with the tendon as such. So I've had an injection in the nerve that runs down there and it seems to have settled it down."

The cure for the injury is a few months' rest but Pietersen cannot afford to stay out of the game with England facing many important fixtures in the coming months.

"What cures it is two or three months out of the game and that just ain't happening. It is impossible to take a break like that. The only way it would happen would be to tear a tendon or a hamstring or something like that. I don't want to put my hand up for that kind of rest and it has not happened before," Pietersen said.

Apart from the Ashes, Pietersen's commitments this year include a tour in November of his native South Africa as well as the Champions League in October where he is expected to captain the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Pietersen was rested during England's loss to Netherlands in their opening tie at the World Twenty20, but the former England captain proved his value to the team with a 38-ball 58 in the victory over Pakistan in the next match.