Australia plans to crack England in Ashes build-up

KEVIN PIETERSEN will make his return to competitive cricket today with Australia pledging to put England under the same pressure that led it to imploding last year.

Australians to pressure England

KEVIN PIETERSEN will make his return to competitive cricket today with Australia pledging to put England under the same pressure that led it to imploding last year.

The Ashes series is less than three weeks away and Pietersen, who has not played since March, is ready to put his right knee to the test in Surrey's LV=County Championship game against Yorkshire, having been named in the England squad for the second Twenty20 international against New Zealand on Thursday.

Although England's immediate priority is Sunday’s Champions Trophy final, Australia are already stepping up preparations for the Trent Bridge Test, which begins on July 10.

The propaganda battle will inevitably be part of the build-up and Mickey Arthur, the Australia coach, believes that his side can regain the urn surrendered four years ago.

 "I would like to see England under pressure," Arthur said. "When South Africa put them under pressure last year for extended periods of time, we saw the cracks develop. I would like to see how they handle pressure for a sustained time.

"They have a very good top three. It will be interesting to see if and when Pietersen fits in, and how he fits in."

South Africa beat England 2-0 last summer, thoroughly outplaying a divided home side. Pietersen was dropped for the final game amid claims of sending text messages that were "derogatory" about Andrew Strauss, then the captain, to opposition players.

Strauss resigned at the end of the series and Pietersen, who said merely that the messages were "provocative", was not allowed to return until completing a period of "reintegration".

On the day Ricky Ponting announced that he will retire from all cricket in October, Arthur said that Australia have a better fast-bowling group and hinted that England stirred the issue over David Warner, who has been suspended until the first Test for hitting Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.

In its media release last week, the ECB, which denies dirty tricks, referred to the incident as "an unprovoked physical attack". Arthur said: "It is part and parcel of touring England. You have to be very street-smart and on your game and if you are not, the media and the ECB will have a field day with you. We have just got to be smarter and make sure we make the right decisions."

Pietersen, in an interview with talkSPORT radio to be broadcast today (Friday), said that his challenge is to put his knee through a full day in the field. "That is the only thing that has not been tested," he said. "I am just going to Yorkshire to get through these four days.

"The professional in me will want to score as many runs as possible, but the most important thing is to wake up each morning and know there is no issue with my knee."

The Times