Sacked Kevin Pietersen Desperate for Test Return

Kevin Pietersen says he hopes his exile from the England Test side will soon end allowing him able to achieve his goals of reaching 10,000 Test runs and again beating Australia in an Ashes series.

Pietersen was dropped from the England team after its disastrous and acrimonious series in Australia earlier this year, held responsible by the England and Wales Cricket Board for disharmony in the dressing room.

The batsman, in Australia to join the Melbourne Stars for the Twenty20 Big Bash League, said Monday he still has ambitions to play Test cricket

South African-born Pietersen said "I know I still have four or five years left. Whether I just want to play T20 though, is another thing."

"The next six months, with the changes happening in England, (it) could be interesting," Pietersen said, adding he has Test goals to achieve.

"I have 8,300 (Test) runs - I'd love to get 10,000 Test runs," he said. "I'd love to beat Australia again ... last time, we got hammered," he said. "That doesn't sit well. I'm not a player who likes being hammered, I'm a player who plays to win."

Pietersen said his enforced break from Test cricket had allowed him to recover fully from a chronic knee injury.

"I should have had a microfracture before the double Ashes last year," he said. "But I was flying around this country getting injected by every single doctor to try to get myself through.

"Having not played test cricket since January, my body has felt a hell of a lot better. I'm feeling good - ready to go."