England could still miss Pietersen: Arthur

London: Australia coach Mickey Arthur believes England could still miss their star batsman Kevin Pietersen, despite winning four successive one-day internationals since he retired from limited overs cricket.

Pietersen, who remains a Test cricketer, quit the shorter formats after England refused his request to give up one-dayers but still play Twenty20s. Innings of 125, 53, 41 and 75 by Pietersen’s replacement Ian Bell has helped England win against the West Indies 2-0 and take a 2-0 lead against Australia in the ongoing five match series. “Kevin’s a world-class player, there``s certainly no getting away from that. He’s been fantastic, so it would have been an interesting selection poser,” a website quoted Arthur, as saying. “You would say they’ve gone seemingly well without him, because I don``t think they``ve lost an ODI since he’s gone. But down the line I think they might feel the weight of that decision, because he is a class act - and he was playing very, very well as well before it ended for him. At the moment they``re not missing him but down the line, not sure.” However, England is on a run of eight successive ODI wins and Arthur said: “I think they``re playing really well. They``re playing a very good brand of cricket. They``re playing with their specialists; they``re playing the one-day game with their best players.” Arthur is hopeful that Australia will raise their game over the remaining three ODIs against England. ANI