The Ashes: Kevin Pietersen calls England ‘shambolic’ during day one of Lord’s Test

Kevin Pietersen slammed England for being “shambolic” and “too nice” as Australia bossed day one of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.

Pietersen’s strong words came at tea when Australia were 190-2 from 24 overs having been inserted by England on a green pitch under cloudy skies.

The tourists, 1-0 up in the five-match series after a thrilling two-wicket win at Edgbaston last week, closed on 339-5, with Steve Smith unbeaten on 85.

England gave away 36 extras on Wednesday, with 12 of those coming from no-balls.

Former England beater Pietersen told Sky Sports during the tea break: “It’s been shambolic, absolutely shambolic. You have overcast conditions, you have a wicket that suits your bowlers and you’ve got bowlers running in at 78, 79, 80 mph.

“It’s one thing walking in here, swanning around and saying ‘hey, this is a wonderful team to play in, we’re creating the best environment’, but this is not Ashes cricket.

“The Australians here were outside to beat before the English bowlers [after a rain break]. The English bowlers this morning should have been on those stairs saying ‘we want to bowl at Australia, we’re desperate to bowl at Australia’.

“These two Australian batters [David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne] were out there waiting for England. They are the ones who should have been in the room saying ‘no, hold on, we don’t want to bat’. It’s all too easy and it’s all too nice.

“Are you telling me Ricky Ponting in 2005 is going to be talking to Geraint Jones. You think Michael Vaughan is going to be standing next to Justin Langer and saying, ‘hey man, what a cool day, what an awesome day and environment here at Lord’s?’

“Are you joking? Are you absolutely joking? I just hope they’re in their dressing room now and the England coach [Brendon McCullum] is giving them the biggest hammering and saying it’s not good enough. It’s absolutely not good enough.”

‘England’s bowlers were wayward, they lacked a bit of zip’

Pietersen also referenced England captain Ben Stokes’ decision to declare at 394-8 on day one of the first test at Edgbaston, saying Australia would never do likewise.

“He added: “You cannot declare for 390. You think Australia are declaring today? You think Australia are getting 390 today and saying ‘England, go have a bat’? no luck.”

Ashes-winning England captain Sir Andrew Strauss said at stumps that the home side had “fluffed their lines”.

Part-time spinner Joe Root’s twin strikes to remove Travis Head (77) and Cameron Green (0) late in the day saw Australia slip from 316-3 to 316-5 before Smith and Alex Carey (10no) guided the Baggy Greens through to blunt.

Strauss said: “Usually Stokes is very proactive, trying different things, taking the batsmen out. I suppose his attitude today was ‘let the pitch do it for us’.

“There was enough for that to be a sensitive tactic. The problem was England’s bowlers expected it to happen and perhaps didn’t put enough into it. I thought they were a little wayward, looked like they lacked a bit of zip.

“They will be bitterly disappointed as they had a great opportunity and they fluffed their lines. Those two wickets from Root at the end of the day rescued England from it being a truly awful day to just a bad one.

“Australia dealt superbly with the first hour where the conditions were very much in England’s favor and very much earned the right to get on top in the second half of the day.”

Watch day two of the second Ashes Test, from Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Thursday. Build-up starts at 10.15am ahead of the first ball at 11am. You can also stream with NOW.