ASHES hero Kevin Pietersen became an England cricket star thanks to his mum - who grew up as a Bolton schoolgirl.

Pietersen, who hit his first test 100 on Monday to help England to victory over Australia, could just as easily have been smashing the runs for South Africa - the country in which he was born.

But while Pietersen may have been brought up 5,000 miles away, his mother Penny was born in Canterbury in Kent before moving as a youngster to Boothstown, near Worsley and then going to school in Farnworth.

And it has meant the 25-year-old cricketer has been able to play for England - a stroke of luck for the country since Pietersen proved to be one of the main players in the historic victory.

Penny, aged 55, moved from Kent to Lancashire when she was five years old and emigrated to South Africa when she was 18. She later met her Dutch-born husband, Jannie, a miner, and she has lived in South Africa ever since.

But that did not stop her from watching every ball of her son's match-saving performance in person.

She flew to England to take her place in the pavilion alongside Pieterson's brother Bryan.

Pietersen's mother's roots have created a cricketer who confesses to being as English as bacon and eggs.

Emotional Penny, a former pupils of St Gregory's, Farnworth, is delighted.

She said: "I'm just proud of his achievements. It's him - he went out there and did what he had to do."

But there is some sadness - Penny wishes Pietersen's grandfather, ardent England fan Norman, was able to share the magic moment.

He died before Kevin's rise to stardom and Penny said he would have been "so thrilled" to know he was playing for England.

Pietersen's father had to contend with watching the game from South Africa where he had to stay for a conference.

But Penny said she called her husband and held up the mobile phone so that he could hear the jubilant fans at Lords singing.

Penny said: "I am so proud of what Kevin did. It was a great innings."

Penny featured in the Bolton Evening News's Old Pals page in 2001 (scroll to the bottom on the right hand side) when she said that her son Kevin was a cricketer and that she would be visiting the UK the following August and September. She said she would like to have a reunion with her former friends from St Gregory's School in Farnworth.

If you knew Penny, email Internet Editor Chris Sudlow.