Pietersen ruled out of Ashes

The England batsman will miss the rest of the Ashes series after undergoing surgery on his injured Achilles.

Kevin Pietersen will miss the rest of the Ashes series after undergoing surgery on his injured Achilles. The England batsman was clearly struggling during the first two Tests against Australia and was forced to admit defeat in his fitness battle. Pietersen said on the England and Wales Cricket Board official website: "As an England cricketer the Ashes are the pinnacle of the game so I'm absolutely devastated to be missing the rest of this series. "Up until now the Achilles injury has been manageable but it recently reached the point where we needed to look at other options in terms of treatment. "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." After a draw in Cardiff, England won the second Test at Lord's - their first victory against the Australians on that ground since 1934. Ian Bell is likely to be recalled to replace the injured Pietersen with Ravi Bopara likely to drop to No 4. [e-mail] *With Agencies