HAMPSHIRE star Kevin Pietersen has been named as the man who can fire England to inaugural Twenty20 World Cup glory.

Former Hampshire star Stuart Clark and his Australian seam bowling compatriot Nathan Bracken both believe England will be serious World Cup contenders when the tournament started today.

And they both pinpoint Pietersen as the reason why.

But the Rose Bowl ace's Twenty20 statistics are not great.

In six Twenty20 ODIs Pietersen is only averaging 16.16, with a top score of 34 in his first ever ODI against Australia at the Rose Bowl in June 2005.

Indeed, in his entire Twenty20 career for club and country, he is only averaging 22.06.

In contrast, Hampshire colleague Dimi Mascarenhas is averaging 6.93 with the bat in domestic Twenty20 games and 20.00 in just two Twenty20 ODIs against the West Indies earlier this summer.

Pietersen and co play two group games in the World Cup, against Zimbabwe this Thursday and against favourites Australia a day later.

Clark, who is in his country's World Cup squad, said: "England are the only nation in the world who have played a whole month of domestic Twenty20 cricket this year.

"They've got players like Kevin Pietersen who can win a game on his own and they have played a lot more Twenty20 matches than most of the Australian players.

"So they will definitely be a threat."

Bracken added: "We are coming off a long break and Kevin Pietersen is always a danger player for us, because he can take any attack apart.

"He doesn't need anyone to build him up or to put any pressure on him because he's already proved that he's a match-winner."

Tremlett misses out on Sri Lanka trip - see today's Daily Echo.