Pietersen accused of being too quick to party after speeding fine

(AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Kevin Pietersen, who scored 227 in England's Ashes Test win in Adelaide after a long trough of form, was fined here yesterday for speeding in a bright yellow Lamborghini.

The two events were not necessarily connected but it was an uneasy juxtaposition: the main man, the perceived big ego, gets runs at last and immediately celebrates by burning it up on the Aussie highways.

The last sportsman from England to be fined for speeding in Melbourne was Lewis Hamilton. Pietersen might have been daft trying to match his vehicle speed with his runs but at the very least it smacked of English triumphalism, which was in turn the very last thing that the touring team wanted to exhibit. One up, three to play, achieved nothing yet, has been the mantra all week since their defeat of the home side by innings and 71 runs in Adelaide. Not only that, but the team vehicle sponsors are Jaguar.

The Australian media took it as a sign that the Poms had already wrapped up the affair and were ready to party. Pietersen had taken delivery of the car the previous day after its loan had been arranged by his friend, Shane Warne. He took the Gallardo LP560-4 model, retailing here at $475,000 (£300,000), for a spin along the Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne.

Indeed, he felt compelled to tweet, though presumably not with his hands on the wheel, otherwise the cops might really have had a field day: "Stunning beaches on the Great Ocean Rd. Gorgeous drive!!"

Pietersen was fined on the spot $239 (£150) for driving at 121 kilometres an hour (75mph) in a 100kph (62mph) zone. A police spokesman said: "Geelong highway police detected by laser a yellow Lamborghini travelling at 121kph in a 100 zone about 2:35pm on Thursday. The male driver was in his 30s and was issued with a penalty of $239 and three demerit points. There were no passengers in the vehicle."

The previous day Pietersen had told the local Herald Sun: "This is Warnie's patch and when I'm in town he looks after me. Just the same as Sachin does in Mumbai and Ganguly in Kolkata. I won't be doing any burnouts."

Jumping on the posh-car bandwagon, Stuart Broad, who will take no further part in the tour because of injury but seems to be staying with the squad, is taking delivery of a Jaguar.