Pietersen's test of character

Kevin Pietersen struggled after the rain break in the second one-dayer © Getty Images

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Kevin Pietersen has increased his already formidable work ethic in an attempt to haul himself out of his first slump in form since becoming an England player three years ago.

The Hampshire batsman has enjoyed stunning success since making his Test and one-day international debuts for his adopted country in 2004/05 and was rated as the number one batsman in the International Cricket Council rankings only last year.

But he has not scored a one-day international century since last year’s World Cup - a run of 18 successive matches - and struggled to make an impact during the pre-Christmas series in Sri Lanka.

He has also failed to make a major contribution to England’s opening two defeats in the current one-day series against New Zealand, which continues with the third encounter in the five-match series at Eden Park.

The slump has not come as a shock to 27-year-old Pietersen, and his solution has been to work harder then ever in the nets and gym to rediscover his form.

“It’s obviously not something I’m happy about and it’s something I’m working on as hard as I’ve ever worked at the moment,” he explained.

“Life is full of challenges and it’s the first bad patch I’ve had in four years of playing for England, so I knew it was going to come and it’s a case of getting my head around it.

“I thought I was playing well the other night, as well as I’ve played when I’ve been scoring runs, so it will come.

Pietersen has been working particularly hard in the nets ahead of the third encounter

“It’s a case of hard work. That’s my recipe for success and I’m putting in the hard yards at the moment.”

Indeed, before a two-hour break for rain at Hamilton on Tuesday evening, Pietersen looked to be timing the ball as well as ever only to fall seven deliveries after the restart without adding to his 29.

It is that type of misfortune which has convinced him that the only way to turn around his slump is through sheer determination.

He said: “There’s nothing easy in life, certainly not at this level. There’s a lot of guys who keep putting in the extra hard yards and if you don’t do that you don’t become the best at what you do.

“I want to become one of the best players, I was there last year for about six months but I want to try and get back to that.

“I want to strive for perfection and want to be a player who keeps putting in and keeps working hard and makes guys work hard around me as well.”

He stressed: “What this makes me realise and understand is what a great game cricket is.

“You can feel as good as you want to and yet get no runs and some days you feel terrible - I didn’t feel in the best nick against India and yet I got two Test hundreds when I thought batting conditions were as difficult as I’ve played for England.

“It makes me realise you really have to enjoy the good days and keep putting in because you’re always learning. I always want to learn and get better and this is just a great test of character, but I’ll come good.”