Former England captain Kevin Pietersen went on an absolute tirade after day one of the second Ashes 2023 Test which went underway at the Lord’s Ground on June 28.
England, trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, opted to bowl first after winning the toss under overcast conditions. They also brought in Josh Tongue to bolster their fast-bowling unit in place of Moeen Ali, who failed to recover from his finger injury.
However, Australia managed to get through the first session as it was a David Warner show well-supported by a stubborn act from Usman Khawaja. England got only one wicket, that of Khawaja (17) at the stroke of lunch, in the first session as Australia went to the break at 73/1.
Warner got out for 66 runs and Marnus Labuschagne contributed 47 runs. But after that, the England bowlers had no answer to the counterattack of Travis Head (77 in 73 balls) and Steve Smith (85*), who took gave Australia a huge advantage as they ended day one on 339/5.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad were down on pace and got nothing out of the surface. Australia went to tea at 190 for two in 50 overs and that is when Kevin Pietersen tore into the England team players.
“Not a lot has caught my eye from an English perspective … It’s been shambolic. Absolutely Shambolic. You have overhead conditions, you have a wicket that suits your bowlers, you have bowlers running in at 78, 79 miles an hour,” he said on Sky Sports.
He said coach Brendon McCullum and others should be giving the players "the biggest hammering" for "not being good enough".
“I hope they’re in that dressing room now and the England coaches are giving them the biggest hammering in saying it’s not good enough. It’s absolutely not good enough. You cannot bowl that here today, you cannot have these conditions, and you cannot declare for 390 … you think Australia is declaring today?
You think Australia is getting 390 and saying England go have a bat. No chance,” he added.
Pietersen also took a dig at the body language of the England bowlers and said that the Australian openers looked keener to get on with the game rather than the English players.
“It’s one thing walking here, swanning around saying, ‘Hey, this is a wonderful team to play in, we’re creating the best environment.’ But this isn’t Ashes cricket. I’ve played Ashes cricket, I’ve played nearly 30 Test matches against Australia. The Australians were outside to bat before the English bowlers.
The English bowlers this morning should have been on those stairs saying we want to bowl at Australia. We’re desperate to bowl in Australia. These two Australian batters are out there waiting for England. They’re the ones that should be in the room saying, ‘No, no, we don’t want to bat,’ and it’s all too easy and it’s all too nice,” he said.
“Are you telling me that in 2005 Ricky Ponting will be talking to Geriant Jones? Do you think Michael Vaughan will be talking to Justin Langer saying hey mate, awesome, what a cool day, It’s overcast, it’s beautiful. What an environment here at Lord’s …
Are you joking? Are you absolutely joking?” Pietersen ended his rant.
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(Hindustan Times inputs)
