Pietersen faces university test in bid to prove form

London: It used to be a sign of a player's status to miss the university match against your county but Kevin Pietersen has fallen back into the pack these past 18 months and the pack do as they are told.

Let us not paint this as penance. With the Test series against Sri Lanka beginning in 14 days it is sensible for Pietersen to play a match, even against such modest opposition as Cambridge University, after recovering from a double hernia operation six weeks ago.

Modern players may be used to short build-ups to big matches, but given the density of today's schedules he could still do with negotiating the bumps thrown up by a match situation.

Whether the game appeals to his famously twitchy ego is another matter, but the reality is that his stock as a batsman has taken a sharp tumble since he lost the England captaincy at the start of 2009.

Unsurprisingly, Andy Flower, England's team director, wants to see if he is willing to undertake the necessary repair work.

His figures suggest there is a bit of fixing to do too. Since making a hundred in the Port-of-Spain Test just over two years ago, Pietersen has made just one three-figure score, against Australia at Adelaide in the recent Ashes triumph.

Shortcomings

The scale of his 227 there has tended to obscure his shortcomings, which are even more apparent in one-day cricket — the format in which he first announced himself to an unsuspecting public.

Since making an unbeaten hundred against India in 2008, he has averaged just 23 in 27 one-day internationals.

He needs to start performing again and while convincing himself might not be as easy as it once was, the effort needs to be made if he is to restore his reputation as one of England's greatest.