Kevin Pietersen has suffered a setback in his recovery from Achilles surgery after being taken to hospital for treatment for an infection in the stitching of his scar tissue, the ECB has confirmed.
Pietersen underwent an operation on his right Achilles tendon after England's victory in the second Test at Lord's. The surgery was conducted by a leading Swedish specialist, who was flown in at the ECB's behest, and an initial estimate was that he would be out of cricket for six weeks.
That may now have to be revised, although the ECB is not at this stage considering the news to be a significant glitch in his recovery plans. He is currently on a drip in a London hospital, where he is believed to be undergoing a course of antibiotics.
The operation, which Pietersen underwent after labouring to twin scores of 32 and 44 in the Lord's Test in July, involved a small incision and trimming of the blood vessels and nerves around the inflamed tendon and was considered, in a statement from Nick Peirce, the ECB's chief medical officer, to have been routine.
"Kevin will look to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation programme to ensure there is no risk of recurrence," said Peirce at the time. "This is expected to be approximately six weeks but will be taken at an appropriate pace following constant review."
Pietersen was never in contention to be fit for the remainder of the Australia tour, although the ECB currently remain optimistic that he will be fit for the tour of South Africa which gets underway in October, although he may yet be forced to miss the Champions Trophy section of that trip.
In Pietersen's absence, England's middle order has struggled to match his authoritative style of batting, and at Headingley this week, nos 3, 4 and 5 -- Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood -- mustered 16 runs for six dismissals, the lowest combined tally in Test history.
"I hate missing matches for England and especially during an Ashes summer but now that the decision has been made to undergo surgery I'm confident I can return to the England team injury-free following a course of rehabilitation," said Pietersen at the time of his injury.