Pietersen pitches in to debate on future of Tests

Kevin Pietersen has called on groundsmen to play their part in keeping Test cricket alive, describing surfaces like last week's track in Chittagong as a major threat to the format.

England eventually managed to take the 20 wickets they needed to defeat Bangladesh in the first Test, but only after a huge amount of toil and two consecutive sessions without success on days four and five.

There was next to no assistance for the seamers and even the spinners did not extract much turn, stacking the deck firmly in favour of the batsmen.

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Pietersen may have benefited from that, scoring 99 in the tourists' first-innings total of 599-6dec but he recognises that uneven contests between bat and ball are not good for the game's long-term prospects.

"For me, personally, to bat on that wicket, that's fine, that's great, but I don't think those conditions are good for Test match cricket," said the 29-year-old.

"Everyone is talking about where Test cricket will be in five years and I don't think wickets like that are conducive to people watching.

"On day five of a Test match, you expect some spin and something in the wicket. On days three, four and five in the longer form of the game, you need wickets that will produce victories or results.

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"I don't think the wicket was great in terms of entertainment."

Pietersen is off to play in the Indian Premier League as soon as the second Test, starting tomorrow in Mirpur, finishes.

That competition is hardly lacking in hype or exposure and although he will be paid handsomely for his efforts in the Twenty20 league, Pietersen is desperate to see Tests thrive as the pinnacle of the sport.

"At the end of the day, I love Test match cricket but with the way it is going and the way people are negatively talking about it now... to play on a pitch like that is not good for Test cricket," he said.

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"I want Test match cricket to survive for as long as possible because it tests every individual and toughens you up.

"If we had played India on that it would have been 700 plays 700 plays 100-1.

"I mentioned it after the West Indies series last year that in order for Test match cricket to continue and be the number one game, groundsmen have a huge part to play."

Fast bowler Stuart Broad, England's most experienced international bowler in the first Test despite being just 23, missed training yesterday after a bout of illness.

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Team director Andy Flower hopes he overcomes that in time to play a central role tomorrow, with the likelihood that James Tredwell will be added to the side as a second spinner at the expense of Steve Finn.

Pietersen has called on England to produce "one final push" in the second Test to end their winter programme on a high.

A punishing international schedule has taken England from the Champions Trophy in South Africa to an away series against the Proteas, a brief Twenty20 stop against Pakistan in Dubai and now a Test and one-day tour of Bangladesh.

During that time England have put in some much improved limited-overs performances, scored a highly-creditable drawn Test series against South Africa, and have gone unbeaten against the Tigers.

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It is a period Pietersen believes the team can look back on with pride, providing they avoid slipping up at the final hurdle.

"We started out a long time ago but it's been a pretty successful winter for us. It's been a big winter for us but there is still one final push needed.

"Generally, we don't end tours on the best note so this is an opportunity for all of us to make sure we get stuck in and dig deep and get that victory.

"Of course we'd have liked to beat Australia and gone on in the Champions Trophy in November but for the team this has been a great winter in terms of results.

"It's been a good team effort and to win this last one would be fantastic."