JOHANNESBURG, Feb 14: England coach Duncan Fletcher echoed captain Michael Vaughan on Monday, saying that Kevin Pietersen's one-day showing in South Africa had put him into contention for a Test spot for this year's Ashes.

"He played some outstanding innings and took on the South African crowds and everyone else," Fletcher told reporters. "He seems to thrive on that and it's a big plus that the boy likes a contest. The Australians are a tough side and we definitely need to give a lot of thought to bringing him into the equation for the Tests."

Pietersen, born and raised in South Africa but who switched his allegiance to England because he thought he would get more opportunities, scored three hundreds in the seven-match series and averaged 151.33. The next highest average was Michael Vaughan's 39.75.

He also scored his runs at more than a run a ball, despite being booed regularly by the South African crowds. England, however, still lost the series 4-1.

South Africa won the last game by three wickets on Sunday despite a Pietersen innings of 116. Vaughan said after the match that there was no reason why Pietersen could not play in Tests.

Some commentators have suggested his technique might be too loose to succeed but Fletcher praised his attitude. "The key thing about Pietersen is that he's a classic example of thinking on your feet.

When he's at the crease, you can see he's working things out for himself. It's one thing to know where to hit the ball, but he's also working out how to hit it there." Pietersen had not been included in the original England one-day squad for South Africa.

Fletcher said he was happy with the composition of England's limited-overs team despite the series defeat, which followed the team's 2-1 success in the tests. "From the point of view of the balance of the team, it's there," he said.

"It was a hard one-day series with South Africa, but that's when you learn more. The games were close and really entertaining. Every game bar one went down to the wire.

"We needed more runs and a better platform from the top four. Someone has to go through and get a hundred.... I think the problem was something mental, because they kept getting to 30 and then getting out."

England also could not match South Africa's batting depth while the team's bowling at the death also needed improvement, Fletcher said. "We needed a bit more guile, especially when the slog's on.

"Darren Gough's experience was very, very important to us. He's obviously worked very hard and is extremely fit. There's a slight chance of him still being there for the World Cup in two years time.

"Certain people didn't play to their potential and if you include the absence of (Andrew) Flintoff, then we only played to 75 percent of our potential." -Reuters