Pietersen confident of England revival

The Hampshire batsman suffered like the rest of England's squad on the recent tour to Sri Lanka, failing to score a half-century in the three-Test series as the tourists slipped to a deserved series defeat.

"It was a long flight out here, 30 hours it took us to get here because we missed our connection in Auckland, but the guys have been prepared to work hard to get going," said Pietersen.

And after several weeks off, during which time he married fiancée Jessica, Pietersen is eager for a return to work and has been delighted by the appetite of England's young one-day squad to put in the effort in the hope of starting well on the two month tour to New Zealand.

"They asked for an 80% practice out of the boys Tuesday and it's been 100%. One of the really good traits about this young team is their willingness to learn and we all just want to get better every single day," he said.

"We've come out to New Zealand and you'd think that in the Southern Hemisphere you'd be able to get outside but it's been raining so we went into the indoor nets and have practiced so well.

"Every single day I always want to get better, try and improve my game and try and learn something new every single day. I try something different, ask questions and try and have a different practice and try to challenge myself," he added.

"That's what I like and that's what the team is doing and it's great to be part of a team that's doing that."

Every member of the 16-man squad was able to practice on Wednesday with captain Paul Collingwood, who suffered a minor lower back strain which ruled him out of Tuesday's session, back to full health.

England begin their tour with back-to-back one-day practice matches against Canterbury over the weekend before the first of two Twenty20 internationals in Auckland next Tuesday.