KEVIN PIETERSEN ASHES EXCLUSIVE
Gruelling fitness regime caused the Achilles injury
KEVIN PIETERSEN today confesses that his gruelling self-imposed Caribbean fitness regime caused his agonising Achilles injury that could yet wreck his Ashes dream.
With the First Test against Australia just 10 days away, England's No 1 batsman is still not 100 per cent fit. Pietersen has already had a cortisone jab injected into the nerve in his spine to treat the injury. But he admits that too much RUNNING during England's winter tour of the West Indies fuelled his current problems.
KP's over-the-top personal training schedule included:
- 3.5mile sprints on a treadmill the night before Test matches.
- Running six miles from the ground in St Kitts to the England hotel instead of catching the team bus.
- Mile-long shuttle runs up and down hills near the team hotel.
"Road running is what I absolutely love, but I did too much, Pietersen said. "I was doing huge runs in the Caribbean - too much - which hurt my back and was linked to the problems I've since had.
"The night before a Test I would sprint 20 minutes on the treadmill, caning myself, or I would do long runs of four to six miles.
"For instance, at St Kitts I'd run from the ground to our team hotel. We also had a hill next to the hotel, which was probably a mile long, and I'd run up one side and down the other a couple of times. I felt I needed to do this to be in tune and mentally fresh.
"It helps cleanse the mind and keep the body fresh. But I have now learned that I can't do that any more. I've got to do the things that suit me and to make sure I can play in such a big series as the Ashes."
Pietersen, who was 29 yesterday, rates himself '90 per cent' ready for the Ashes after struggling through the World Twenty20. He may still need an injection into his spine if his Achilles problem flares up again.
But he is pencilled in to play in England's three- day warm-up game against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, which starts on Wednesday.
"I'm getting on the road to recovery," he said. "I'm already doing small runs, lunges and sideways runs - and I can now do everything pain free, which is brilliant.
"And starting real running in the next few days is huge. My primary goal during the Twenty20 was to get the leg right, play some good cricket and some match-winning innings.
"You don't want to be going into the Ashes anything but 100 per cent fit because Australia can dominate you and hurt you if they know you are wounded."
The Aussies had been looking to pierce England's heart on two fronts with both Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff struggling for fitness.
But with all-rounder Flintoff smashing 93 off just 41 balls for Lancashire in their Twenty20 Cup win against Derbyshire last Thursday, Pietersen believes the hero of England's 2005 Ashes win can again have a pivotal role.
"Freddie at full fitness is a force to be reckoned with and the Aussies fear him," added KP. "Their batsmen will fear him because he will get reverse swing, and so will the bowlers who will see him coming in at six or seven.
England sponsors Vodafone helped Pietersen, skipper Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood test out their fitness by boxing Britain's Olympic middleweight champion James DeGale last week.
The great spirit in the England dressing room now is in marked contrast to the squabbling after KP lost the captaincy earlier in the year.
He added: "It was difficult in January but now everyone is happy in the dressing room. I'm happy in life, happy in the dressing room and Straussie has settled in and taken the job on. I was honoured and proud to captain my country, I was sad to lose it, but I'm a great believer in what will be will be."
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