After their thrilling escape in the third Test against New Zealand at Auckland England have received more good news with the announcement that Kevin Pietersen does not need surgery on his troublesome knee and is due to be available for the first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s on May 16.
Pietersen flew home after the second Test and it was feared he would be out for up to eight weeks but subsequent scans have shown that there was no cartilage damage.
Coach Andy Flower praised his team after they salvaged a draw from the Test series with a memorable fightback by his batsmen on the last day. “I thought Bell and Prior were especially magnificent,” he said. But Flower conceded: “We expected, in these conditions, to play better. One of the factors is that the New Zealand swing bowlers did swing it, and we didn’t consistently.”