Pietersen keen to remain king of the crease

Kevin Pietersen, England's middle-order batsman, has said he has gotten used to the glare of the media limelight after the "life-changing" Ashes triumph last year and has admitted that he wants to become the best in the business. Pietersen's match-saving and Ashes-winning 158 in the final Test at the Oval took him to new levels of popularity, and has accepted that "everyone wants a piece of him".

"I've got used to the attention, it's now a way of life," Pietersen told Wales on Sunday."It was quite daunting at first but it's bearable now. I've just got to smile and look as though I'm happy all of the time. It's not just on the field I have to put in 110 percent but it's off the field too. I can't go out of the house without dressing up just in case I get snapped by the paparazzi but I don't do many things I shouldn't.

"I'm just ultra polite and ultra nice now because I'm not just representing English cricket but I want to be a good role model for kids.Everyone wants a piece of Kevin Pietersen now but it is easy for me to fit people in. If I'm not working then I'll do it, if I'm working they can take a hike."

The South-African born Pietersen - who was voted the ICC's Emerging Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year and received a prestigious Wisden Cricketer of the Year accolade for 2005 - admitted that he wanted to hog the headlines for a longer period. "The attention on me is massive, but I haven't let it have a detrimental effect on the way I train or the way I perform. I know what has made me successful and it has given me a rather nice roof over my head," he said."I'm not interested in being a short-term success, I want long-term success. I want to be the best batsman in the world and that requires complete determination, hard work and making sure I keep doing the right things."

That Oval innings apart, Pietersen impressed with a second hundred on a tough tour of Pakistan and fifties in England's 1-1 series in India recently. He also admitted that he had no intentions of slacking. "I play every game as if it's my last whether it's for county or country," he said. "So much so that I only took a few days off after the tour to India before I was back training. Then I scored 98 in Hampshire's win over Essex in the week so that shows I've no intention of getting complacent."