Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has expressed his dissatisfaction with England’s tactics and approach on Day 1 of the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s. England, trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, won the toss and chose to bowl first under overcast conditions. Given the strength of England’s bowling attack and the nature of the pitch, it was expected that the hosts would make early inroads. However, the morning session turned out to be dominated by Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja.
The opening pair went on to add 73 runs before Ashes debutant Josh Tongue dismissed Khawaja (18) just before lunch. Tongue then followed it up with the wicket of Warner (66) after the break. However, Australia quickly recovered from these setbacks and put themselves in a commanding position by the end of the second session, reaching a score of 180 for 2.
Pietersen, known for his candid remarks, criticized England’s performance, particularly the bowling unit, for their passive approach at the beginning of the match. He described their display as shambolic and questioned why they did not take full advantage of the bowling-friendly overcast conditions during the opening session.
“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 mile an hour,” Pietersen said on Sky Sports during the Tea break.
Pietersen also believes that the coaching staff, led by coach Brendon McCullum, should take responsibility for the team’s underwhelming performance and hold the players accountable for not meeting expectations.
“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, you cannot declare for 390 … you think Australia are declaring today? You think Australia are getting 390 and saying England go have a bat,” the 43-year-old said.
In addition to his criticism of the coaching staff, former England cricketer also highlighted the issue of body language displayed by the England bowlers during the second Ashes Test against Australia. Pietersen noted that the Australian openers appeared more enthusiastic and eager to get on with the game compared to the English players.
“You know Australian players [openers] were outside to bat before the English bowlers. The English bowlers this morning should have been on those stairs, saying, ‘We desperately wanna bowl out Australia.’ These two Australian batters are out there waiting for England. They [Australian batters] are the ones who should have been in the room saying, ‘No, no! Hold on, we don’t wanna bat,’ and, it’s all too easy and nice.” Pietersen concluded.
"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
The double-wicket over by Joe Root in the final session of Day 1 of the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s provided some respite for England. Root’s crucial dismissals of Marnus Labuschagne (47) and Cameron Green (0) prevented the Australian team from further strengthening their dominant position in the match.
However, despite these breakthroughs, England couldn’t stop Australia from reaching to a commanding 339/5 at stumps on Day 1. Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 85 while wicketkeeper Alex Carey finished the day on 11 not out.
