BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Kevin Pietersen will rely on advice from friends in South Africa’s team when he faces new-look Australia in the opening Ashes test in Cardiff next week, the England batsman said on Monday.
England meet their oldest rivals on July 8 in the first of five tests and by that time Pietersen should have an informed grasp of what to expect thanks to Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, colleagues at the Indian Premier League franchise Bangalore.
Australia bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus and opening batsman Phillip Hughes, all new to Pietersen, are in contention for their first Ashes appearances.
“I have had a lot of communication with Kallis and Boucher. A lot of it was very, very useful,” Pietersen told reporters during an England media day at Edgbaston.
“They told me about the new bowlers we haven’t seen much of, like Siddle, and how to dismiss quite a few of their top batsmen. I spoke to Kallis and Boucher almost daily about (that) stuff.
“Hughes doesn’t create me too many problems because I’m a batsman so most of my talk was about their bowlers but we certainly did talk about two or three of their batsmen as well,” added Pietersen.
“I’ve only seen Siddle on television and he looks like a workhorse who runs in and hits the deck hard, that’s all you can ask of a fast bowler. Yet again Australia have produced someone who is going to run in all day and be fierce competition.”
ACHILLES INJURY
South African-born Pietersen, free of his recent Achilles injury, said he was not an avid watcher of opponents on video but that it was an exercise he needed to do to familiarise himself with bowlers like left-arm paceman Johnson.
“In this day and age with all the technology flying around it would be stupid for you not to know what you should expect,” said England’s leading batsman.
“Although we haven’t played them and don’t know how big their hearts are and whether they are going to bat all day, we can still have a look at what to expect.”
Pietersen, who hit 158 at the Oval in 2005 to help England draw the final test and win back the Ashes, said this year’s contest would not match 2005 for drama because “that was the best series ever”.
He is upbeat about the fact the visitors are missing retired greats Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, who helped seal a 5-0 Ashes whitewash for Australia in 2006-07.
“It certainly does give us a lift,” Pietersen said. “The big one we don’t see now is Gilchrist coming in at seven.
“Especially after Perth when we got ourselves in a pretty good position and he came in and hit one of the quickest hundreds ever.
“That was just demoralising and takes it right out of you. He is a guy we are happy not to see.
“It is now just a case of concentrating on what they have got and capitalising on what weaknesses we think they have got and work on our positives so we come out of the series winning.”
