England batsman Kevin Pietersen has said he is feeling "fantastic" after working on some technical and mental aspects of his game with coach Graham Ford during his time with the Natal Dolphins.
Before joining up with the England squad in Perth this weekend, Pietersen spent four weeks in South Africa attempting to regain his form, and while he managed to play just two first-class innings, scoring 36 and 0, he insisted the trip had been a positive and helpful experience.
"I feel fantastic now. I've had a lovely little break from the international circuit which has been very, very refreshing," Pietersen told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme. "I'm really, really excited about what could be one hell of an interesting and positive winter ahead."
"I put myself under a lot of pressure by going to South Africa knowing that every practice session and every hit I had would make headlines in the cricketing world but that's what I wanted to do because I know it's going to benefit me in the long run. Fordy's been somebody I've worked with throughout my life so it was amazing that I could go and spend two weeks with him and gather back that confidence and that free spirit."
"He knows me as a person. I haven't given a lot away about me as a person here, especially playing for England, but Fordy knows where I'm from, knows everything about me so he can talk to me in a very different way, more than anyone in this country probably apart from my brothers and my parents. He picked out one little thing that I haven't been doing in the last six months, since the Caribbean in the World Twenty20 and we worked on that little thing in particular.
Pietersen, who has not struck an international hundred since March 2009, hit out at the intense media attention given to his struggle for form ahead of England's defence of the Ashes in Australia. He empathised with footballer Wayne Rooney, who has also been the focus of negative publicity recently.
"I wasn't fed up with the scrutiny, I found it funny," he said. "The journalists get paid to make opinions and the punters have the right. But people don't realise we know as sportsmen if we're not playing well. We actually know as sportsmen if we are not playing well, if we are letting ourselves down or letting people down, so the more times that people hammer you about it, it doesn't really help.
"I look at the Rooney situation - he's getting killed every single day and it will definitely not be helping the lad and he shouldn't have to go to Dubai to get away from things. He should be supported. The man's a genius, he will be a legend of the game and he should be supported rather than be hammered about stuff."
Pietersen also insisted he would not be drawn into a war of words with the Australian camp before what is sure to be a keenly-contested Ashes series. Australian captain Ricky Ponting recently suggested that Pietersen "is a big question mark for them [England] at the moment" and that opener Alastair Cook and middle-order batsman Paul Collingwood would be "nervous" after their own struggles for form during a successful English summer.
"This is my fourth series against Australia," said Pietersen. "Every single time I have played against Australia, for the months leading up to it a lot of things are said which have absolutely no bearing after the first ball is bowled. I am not prepared to get involved. I'm not prepared to add any fuel to any fire that they might have started. I just want to go out and play some really tough, hard cricket and challenge myself against the Australians in Australia."
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