Former England captain Kevin Pietersen did not mince his words as he slammed England for their poor attitude and performance on day one of the ongoing second Test against Australia at Lord’s.
Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bowl first in bowler-friendly conditions on a green pitch and with clouds all over the sky. England bowlers, however, failed to capitalise as Australia made a strong start with the bat. David Warner and Usman Khawaja added 73 runs for the first wicket after both were dropped.
Ashes debutant Josh Tongue then gave England the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Khawaja just before lunch. After the break, he dismissed Warner for 66 but Australia quickly recovered and put themselves in the driver’s seat.
After the end of the second session, the visitors were on 180 for 2. And as England struggled to do well with the ball, Kevin Pietersen came down heavily on them, calling their performance shambolic.
“England have been shambolic. Absolutely shambolic,” he told Sky Sports at the tea interval.
“You have overhead conditions, you have a wicket that suits your bowlers and you’ve got bowlers running in at 78, 79, 80mph.
“It’s one thing swanning around and saying ‘this is a wonderful team to play in, we’re creating the best environment’. But this isn’t Ashes cricket. I played Ashes cricket. I played 30 Tests against Australia,” said the batting great.
Kevin Pietersen slams England’s attitude:
Speaking further, Kevin Pietersen slammed England’s attitude. During the morning session when there was a short rain delay, the home side had to be summoned out of the changing room by umpires when Australia’s openers were already on the pitch. Pietersen recalled how fierce the Ashes rivalry was during his playing days as he expressed his displeasure over the current players’ attitude.
“The Australians were outside to bat before England’s bowlers. England’s bowlers should’ve been on those stairs this morning saying ‘we want to bowl at Australia, we’re desperate to bowl at them’. These two batters are waiting for England and that shouldn’t be the case.
“It’s all too easy, all too nice. Are you telling me Ricky Ponting in 2005 is going to be talking to Geraint Jones?
“You think Michael Vaughan would be standing next to Justin Langer and saying ‘what a cool day, it’s overcast it’s beautiful, what an environment here at Lord’s, what do you think of the wicket?’
“Are you joking? Are you absolutely joking? I just hope they’re in that dressing room now and the England coach is giving them the biggest hammering and saying ‘this is not good enough’.
“It’s absolutely not good enough. You cannot bowl out here today (like this) and you cannot have these conditions and you cannot declare for 390.
“You think Australia are declaring today? You think they’re declaring, getting 390 and then saying go on England, go and have a bat,” said Pietersen.
“Are you joking? Are you absolutely JOKING?” ?
Kevin Pietersen is NOT happy with England today and says it has been ‘shambolic’ ? pic.twitter.com/eTJ50UBTnm
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 28, 2023
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