Ashes, ENG Vs AUS: Walk The Talk At Leeds, Kevin Pietersen Tells Three Lions

New Delhi: All the talk about the ‘spirit of cricket’ will take a backseat as the third Ashes Test between England versus Australia starts at Leeds, Headingly on Thursday. This is no time to whine on what happened at Lord’s as England face the daunting task of stopping the Aussies from winning an Ashes series in their own backyard for the first time since 2001.

Australia lead the five-Test series 2-0 and look to inflict a third and series-clinching defeat until and unless England players perform more with bat and ball rather than their tongue. Former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who knows the pain of losing an Ashes, wants Ben Stokes’ men to ‘walk the talk’ and win the media’s accolades with their performance and not thing else.

“If you’re going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk, and this England cricket team isn’t walking the walk. 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,” wrote Pietersen.

England have put themselves under pressure with all the pre-series media talk and the ‘Bazball’ cricket that Ben Stokes’ team were expected to display continues to remain in the cold storage. Pietersen is not impressed with tag lines created by fans and media and the fact that several cricketers have not lived up to the expectations clearly hurt the Three Lions. Headingley is perfect for a turnaround, opined the former England great and realistically, Stokes can’t alone win a Test match for England.

“I don’t see the mongrel in the England cricket team. There’s so much relaxed talk. It’s like, ‘Hey, this is the coolest environment, we’re having the best time ever.’ Unfortunately, all that matters are winning. I want to see less talking and more walking. That should be the message that is reverberating around that England team right now.

“Headingley is going to be electric. Absolutely electric. It’s going to be like playing in Australia for us. Complete and utter carnage. It's going to be even worse now for the Aussies, which gives England that opportunity to almost slip under the radar and get the job done.

“I can see England winning this Test and getting back into the series, but they have to stop making crazy decisions, and they have to follow their leader,” wrote Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen is backing Stokes to lead by example again. His 155 at Lord’s was not only an extraordinary effort but it highlighted the man’s level of conviction and drive to rise from the ashes. The rest of the team needs to do that now at Leeds.

“Stokes has said, ‘We’ve beaten teams 3-0 before and we want to do that again,’ and I believe him. He’s that kind of person. I absolutely believe every single word that he says. But they need to win the next three Test matches on the cricket field and not in the media,” said Pietersen.