Pietersen's poor run of form continued against Pakistan

Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott says Kevin Pietersen must start scoring runs soon or face losing his place on this winter's Ashes tour of Australia.

Pietersen is without a Test century in 22 innings and scored only nine runs in England's first innings against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Boycott told BBC Sport: "He has no divine right to stay in the side.

"I like his batting when he is playing well but if you don't perform someone else will get your job."

Pietersen, who had not batted in the middle for nearly a month after his county side Hampshire refused to play him in a one-day game, looked out of sorts against Pakistan and survived two umpire referral decisions before finally playing a Mohammad Asif delivery onto his stumps.

The 30-year-old England batsman now has a maximum of five Test innings, two Twenty20 knocks and five one-day internationals to play his way back in to some sort of form before the Ashes squad is selected.

606: DEBATE I'm beginning to wonder if he's interested in test match cricket any more clics5

Pietersen, who had a Test career average of more than 50 runs per innings until a few months ago, has averaged only 38.4 since scoring his last century against West Indies at Port of Spain in March 2009.

However, that figure has been boosted by two recent series against Bangladesh in which he scored 342 runs at 68.4.

He compiled three half centuries but failed to convert any of them into three figures, coming unstuck on 99 in Chittagong in March.

Of more concern are his statistics against top Test playing nations Australia and South Africa.

Injury curtailed Pietersen's participation in the 2009 Ashes series in England as he scored one half century in four innings to finish with an average of 38.25.

And, after a promising start with 40 and 81 in the first Test against South Africa at the turn of the year, his form slipped and he only scored another 56 runs in five more innings to finish with an average of 25.28.

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