**Captain Andrew Strauss believes Kevin Pietersen will be available for England’s winter tour to South Africa.**England name their squad for the November tour on Thursday with Pietersen recovering from problems arising from Achilles tendon surgery.
But Strauss told BBC Radio 4: "He is getting better quite quickly now so we are very hopeful he will make the trip.
“Hopefully he will play in some one-dayers and then a full part in the rest of the series.”
The injury first surfaced during England’s tour of West Indies in March and it was aggravated when the 29-year-old played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League in April.
The South-African born batsman was hampered by the problem during England’s opening two Ashes Tests against Australia and in July he had surgery that ruled him out of the rest of the series.
However, infection to the scar tissue in his Achilles in mid-August has delayed his recovery and Pietersen was forced to miss England’s Champions Trophy campaign.
But with England scheduled to return to South Africa on 1 November for a lengthy tour that comprises two Twenty20 fixtures, five one-day internationals and four Test matches, Strauss is keen to have him back.
“It’s great news for us, we have sorely missed him,” he said. “The sooner he is back the better.”
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England go into the series on the back of a victorious Ashes summer and a semi-final appearance in the Champions Trophy.
But Strauss knows that his side face a difficult tour against a side ranked as the number one Test team and as the third best one-day side.
“It going to be as hard a series as we could possibly have at this stage of our development,” he added.
“It is one that will give us a great gauge of where we are as a side.”