Pietersen will not be available for Champions Trophy

Kevin Pietersen will have to wait longer than expected to be eligible to play for England. It was thought that Pietersen, 24, would be available in time for the ICC Champions Trophy in September, but it now looks as if he will not be able to play for England until the tour to Zimbabwe in late October.

Adam Wheatley, Pietersen's agent, told BBC Sport that he will not complete his mandatory four-year qualification until mid-October at the earliest, and that the exact date of Pietersen's qualification could come a few days into the Zimbabwe tour. "We always believed mid-October was more realistic," he added. "If he becomes eligible four days into the tour, the England & Wales Cricket Board would probably allow him to go."

Pieterson, who has averaged 47.18 in the County Championship and 43.28 in the National League for Nottinghamshire this season, has been in England's future plans for some time now. He was selected for the England Academy in 2003, and toured India with England A last winter, smashing four hundreds in four games on the tour.

Despite being one of their most consistent batsmen over the past four seasons, Pietersen has not always been on the best of terms with Nottinghamshire, and a rapidly deteriorating relationship with the county took a turn for the worse at the end of last season. Pietersen publicly expressed a desire to the leave despite having a year left on his contract, but since then seems to have patched things up with his team-mates and club officials.