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SPORTS
Captain forced to defend absence of injured batsman England confident his knee will heal before summer.
Alastair Cook has brushed aside suggestions that Kevin Pietersen has not been fully committed to England's tour of New Zealand, saying that he would not have played the deciding Test against Brendon McCullum's side even if it had been an Ashes Test.
Pietersen withdrew from selection for the final Test after his right knee, first injured during fielding ahead of the tour match in Queenstown three weeks ago, failed to heal. His place has been taken by Jonny Bairstow, whom Cook confirmed would bat at six, with Ian Bell and Joe Root both shifting up a place in the order.
"I have been satisfied with his commitment throughout the winter," said Cook after a practice session at Eden Park in which Pietersen participated by throwing some catches. "That innings of 186 in Mumbai was a fantastic one at a very crucial time, and that shows his worth to the team.
"Not many could play that innings and that's why we need him in an England shirt as often as we can. It's important he's fit as soon as he can be. You do look sometimes at future planning, but I think if this was an Ashes Test he wouldn't be playing in it."
Cook has been central to paving the way for Pietersen's reintegration after he was dropped at the end of last summer following the 'textgate' scandal. Cook claimed yesterday (Thursday) that the process had been successfully completed.
"He's done extremely well," Cook said. "It's great to have him back. I said at the beginning of the winter, in India, you want to be able to pick from your best squad. We managed to do that, and he's fitted in really well. It's just a shame that his winter has ended a little bit early with his knee."
Captains, especially new ones, tend to be pragmatists and you sense Cook and England's management have settled for a Faustian pact with Pietersen, whereby they are prepared to tolerate his idiosyncrasies providing he plays a match-winning knock every two of three Tests.
Until this series it had more or less worked, though his scores of nought and 12 in Dunedin were well under par. Eden Park, with its tiny straight boundaries, was a chance for him to break records and it will seem strange to players of previous eras that having toughed out the first two Tests he could not see out a third, especially one with so much riding on it. Yet Cook, while disappointed over his absence here, is aware of the benefits of having him resting for eight weeks rather than spending five of them jetting around with the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
"It's a blow when you lose one of your senior batsmen and a guy who's performed consistently well for us over a number of years," said Cook. "We did think Kevin would be OK here. The assessment on his knee was done on a game-by-game basis. He felt he could get through, and we felt he could get through, that those first two Tests but this game might be a step too far.
"You can look at his absence as being good for England with him missing the IPL, but at the moment it's not great for English cricket that one of our senior and best players has an injury concern going into the summer."
Pietersen is not the only leading player with injury problems. Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan are both recovering from elbow surgery and while there is no suggestion that Pietersen also needs an operation at this stage, a good part of England's Ashes-shaping heft appears to be riding on wonders of medical science.
"We've got to wait a little bit to get the full scan results, and the specialist to see them back at home, but Kevin should be ready for the New Zealand series in May along with Swann and Bresnan," Cook said. "You want your best players available, but injuries are part and parcel of international sport. But good teams adapt. We've got five days of very tough cricket, and want to finish the winter as well as we can."
Meanwhile England have given all of their senior players the chance to play at least two first-class fixtures before the start of the summer international schedule.
The England and Wales Cricket Board yesterday confirmed the availability to counties of all centrally and incrementally contracted players, with the emphasis firmly on getting the likely Test squad involved in competitive matches.
Cook, Matt Prior, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott and seamers Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn have all been made available for two LV= County Championship fixtures. Relative newcomers Nick Compton, Joe Root and Chris Woakes have the chance to play three championship fixtures, while Durham will be able to call on Graham Onions for four games before the schedule is reassessed.