Kevin Pietersen has admitted England need to raise their level of performance if they are to compete with the tough challenge of taking on South Africa.

The Hampshire player and England's star batsman believes the four-Test series later this summer against his former compatriots will be the perfect yardstick to measure their progression.

Before then, England face a hard-working New Zealand side in a three-Test series, beginning at Lord's on Thursday, which they are expected to win comfortably in home conditions.

But now they have assembled a side who are mostly experienced in Test cricket, Pietersen expects them to raise their game if they are to challenge South Africa, currently third in the world Test rankings, later this summer.

"We're going to have to (raise our levels)," he conceded.

"If we're going to beat South Africa, we're going to to have to - that's going to be the toughest series we've had for a long time.

"Apart from Australia, the series against South Africa is going to be a tough one because I know how they play their cricket.

"I play how South Africa play their cricket - tough, in your face, we'll do anything to win, we'll really knuckle down.

"It's going to be a hard series and that's the series that we're targeting to see where we're at because it's a pretty important summer next year."

If England are to develop, however, their performance needs to improve from the stuttering displays which resulted in a home series defeat to India and another defeat in Sri Lanka before they recovered to win in New Zealand.

"This summer, looking at South Africa is going to be a good test for a lot of the players," stressed Pietersen.

"A lot of the players have played 20 or 30 Test matches so you'd expect them to start playing some really good innings, some mature knocks, bowl some mature spells and take loads of wickets."

While the key to England's development is bigger performances from the younger, less experienced players, Pietersen is aware the big confrontation between himself and South Africa is expected to be the talking point of the summer.

Subjected to a barrage of abuse whenever he has played the Proteas because of his decision to switch allegiance to England, Pietersen is relishing the confrontation.

"They're going to throw the kitchen sink at me," he admitted. "It's going to be interesting, it's going to be fun and it's something I'm looking forward to.

"It's those times when you stand up to be challenged. Against Australia, I've been challenged on numerous occasions and come back pretty good against them.

"Against South Africa, there's going to be a lot of different emotions. I know when I've played them in one-day games, it's a very emotional thing for me.

"But the cricket is all I'm interested in, I'm not interested in all the other stuff."

Sporting Life / Eurosport