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Former England star Kevin Pietersen has launched into the current team for “acting like they’re the greatest team around” even though they aren’t backing up their big talk with actions on the field.
He has called on England to start “walking the walk” after the likes of Ollie Robinson, Jimmy Anderson and Zak Crawley had plenty to say before the Lord’s Test but they dropped their bundle in the dramatic second match of the Ashes series before and after the controversial Jonny Bairstow dismissal on day five.
Pietersen also thinks legendary seamer Jimmy Anderson should be dropped for the Headingley Test which starts on Thursday to get Mark Wood into the side.
“If you’re going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk, and this England cricket team isn’t walking the walk,” he wrote in a column for a UK bookmaker. “They’re acting like they’re the greatest team around, but they’re currently on course to be the first England team to lose at home to Australia since 2001.
“Leading into Headingley, all of this need to stop. The pressure that they’re putting themselves under by speaking that way and using that language is unnecessary. It’s not helping in any way, shape, or form.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
“I said a lot of things in my career, and I put myself under a lot of pressure, but I was able to walk the walk. England are not walking the walk.
“When they get their foot on the throat, they will absolutely push and push and push to destroy you. That’s how they play this sport. They have that mongrel in them.
“They couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions [at Lord’s] to deliver a resounding defeat. So, for Australia to win, and almost very convincingly if it wasn’t for Stokes’ hundred, was damning.”
Joe Root has become the latest current player to double down on England’s criticism of the Bairstow stumping, suggesting Australia’s players risk being remembered for the incident after their careers.
Root added more fuel to the fire for what is expected to be a heated third Test at Leeds. In a lengthy press conference, Root claimed England would never have appealed for that kind of stumping during his five years as Test captain.
But he saved the most direct advice for Australian players, while clearly still upset over Alex Carey dismissing Bairstow after the English batsman walked out of his crease.
“As a player it’s (about) how you want to play the game, how you want to be remembered,” Root said. “And that’s up to each individual. As a team, we want to play our cricket a certain way and want to leave a certain legacy.
“I try and put myself in that situation and position and I would like to think I would have dealt with it differently.”
Root’s comments come after Stuart Broad made similar remarks to Carey during play on day five at Lord’s, before the quick also criticised Australia in a Daily Mail column on Tuesday.
England’s reaction has prompted accusations of them being sore losers in Australia, with headlines such as “Cry Babies” and “BazBawl” splashed across tabloids.
A point Root is not overly impressed with. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Everyone will see it very differently. As a player you have to play the game how you want to play it,” Root said.
“It was within the rules, it was technically out. If you’re happy with that, then fine.
“If you’re not, I don’t think you can (criticise) other people who play the game slightly differently.”
Root also rejected Australia’s suggestion Bairstow had attempted to stump Marnus Labuschagne in similar fashion earlier in the match at Lord’s, after the Queenslander left a ball in the first innings.
“If you look at the footage, Jonny didn’t gain any advantage by doing what he was doing (when batting),” Root said.
“As a batter you are fully aware when you are batting out of your crease that you are gaining an advantage.
Pat Cummins celebrates taking the wicket of Joe Root. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Whether it is covering different angles or trying to take modes of dismissal out of the game.
“(That’s different to) scratching a mark at the end of the over and walking to the other end.”
Despite that, Root has called for calm at Headingley this week after the ugly scenes in the Lord’s long room on Sunday, with the Yorkshire crowd renowned for being one of the harshest in the country.
“Support England,” he told them. “You’re coming to support your nation, it doesn’t need to go beyond that. Everyone should be able to enjoy the cricket.
“Come here to support your team, do it to the best of your ability and we will play to the best of ours.”
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