Pietersen flips Warne's secrets

Kevin Pietersen may not play in the Ashes but he has passed an exam many English batsmen have failed by picking Shane Warne's flipper. Despite England commentators currently considering him surplus for the five-Test series, Pietersen is already ahead of his team-mates after monitoring Warne from first slip at Hampshire.

"I'm gauging a few tips to how he tries to get batsmen out and on the balls he bowls," Pietersen told Sydney radio. "I picked the flipper well last year, and he's commented on it. I don't really have a problem with picking him, but it's a different story when you stand up in the big arena." Warne's flipper has also evolved from the potent 1990s weapon to a more subtle and less fearsome version.

Pietersen's storming one-day career - he has three hundreds and an average of 139.5 after 11 matches - means he will be a certainty to start the limited-overs series against Australia, but he won't be able to use his knowledge because Warne doesn't play ODIs. A Test debut depends on his county form, which stands at one half-century in five games, and the returns of his main contenders Robert Key and Ian Bell.

"If it happens, it happens," Pietersen, 24, said of an Ashes Test. "I'll work my backside off trying to make it happen. It's not really going to help talking about it in May." The first Test at Lord's starts on July 21.

It is not only an eye for Warne's variations that have aided Pietersen's development at the Rose Bowl. Pietersen said his sledging had improved standing next to Warne and Simon Katich. "I had chilled out, but I'm picking it up again playing with these two," he said. "It's amusing ... It keeps you on your toes. The opposition certainly know that you're up for a battle and I'm sure that the English and all of us will know that we're up for a battle as soon as the Aussies land in the country."

Pietersen also cheekily revealed Warne has a bald spot after the pair visited the same London stylist on Friday. "He got his colours done, I had a bit of colour tinted in mine," he said. "Warney's getting a bald patch at the minute."