Kevin Pietersen appears unlikely to play any first-class cricket this summer after Surrey resisted the temptation to draft him into their LV_ County Championship squad to travel to Worcestershire.

There were suggestions, up until last week, that former Hampshire star Pietersen - who has played exclusively Twenty20 cricket since being axed by England last winter - might yet help his county out in their final two championship matches.

But third-placed Surrey, still in with only rank outsiders' chances of challenging Hampshire for promotion from Division Two, have decided instead to look to the future by giving younger players another opportunity away to table-toppers Worcestershire in a match starting on Tuesday.

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart explained the reasoning to his club's official website, kiaoval.com, saying: ''We discussed it, _head coach_ Graham Ford and myself, the possibility of bringing Kevin in.

''But realistically, we've got just an outside chance of promotion.

''So it's better for the future of the club if we give the likes of an an Aneesh Kapil or Arun Harinath two first-class games to gain more experience to see how they can progress - which will stand us in good stead for next season.''