Confident Kevin Pietersen tells Australia it's Andrew Flintoff they should fear most

Tom Collomosse
6 Jul 2009

Kevin Pietersen has warned Australia their Ashes nemesis Andrew Flintoff is firing on all cylinders again after knee surgery.

The England star also tried to deflect attention away from himself by insisting that he is just one of a number of batsmen who could put the tourists' bowlers to the sword.

The heroics of Flintoff and Pietersen played a huge role in England's Ashes success four years ago, and the Australians see the star duo as the biggest threat to their quest to retain the urn.

And Pietersen — who averages 53.5 in 10 Tests against the old enemy — claimed he would be scared to face the fit-again Flintoff after watching the all-rounder bowl quickly and accurately during England's practice match against Warwickshire last week.

“Andrew Flintoff was bowling at 90mph-plus in that game and I wouldn't want to come up against him in that kind of mood,” said Pietersen, who made his Test debut in this series four years ago.

“It bodes well for what could be a very successful campaign for him, if he can stay fit. Andrew is a competitor who loves playing Australia. The 2005 series was massive for him, and there has been an energy and an excitement about him since he came back into the squad.”

As one of the world's best batsmen, Pietersen remains England's prize wicket and Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting knows his team will gain a huge psychological advantage if they can keep the 29-year-old quiet.

But KP reckons the Aussies, reeling from today's new that Brett Lee's will miss the first two Tests, would do well to pay attention to England's other batsmen rather than focusing on him.

New No3 Ravi Bopara's confidence is sky-high after scoring three hundreds in his last three Test innings, while both Bopara and his Essex team-mate Alastair Cook scored centuries against Warwickshire.

Despite an indifferent home series against West Indies, skipper Andrew Strauss has been in the form of his life, while both Paul Collingwood and wicket-keeper Matt Prior have registered three figures this year.

Pietersen said: “The attention tends to be focused on me everywhere I go, but we have other players who have come in and scored runs and taken wickets. My wicket is no more important than any other batsman's wicket. Bopara, Cook, Strauss, Prior and Collingwood have all scored hundreds recently, while in the bowling department, we proved against West Indies we could take 20 wickets to win a match.

“If Australia want to knock me over, they should remember we have other batsmen this summer who are capable of dominating their bowlers.”

The early part of Pietersen's summer was blighted by an Achilles problem, which ruled him out of the one-day series against West Indies and restricted his role in the World Twenty20.

During that competition, the Hampshire man confessed to being only “70 per cent fit”, but he has now resumed road running and is convinced he is over the worst.

“The injury seems to be behind me now,” he said. “I have had a few more days' rehabilitation, started running again, and everything feels okay. Hopefully, I will go throughout the Ashes without an injury and have a successful campaign.

“I enjoy playing against Australia. It is always a good challenge, and there are fantastic players in the Australian team. I don't mind people getting in my face, and I'm going into this series with a similar mindset to my first one four years ago. This will be my 53rd consecutive Test. I realise how big a series this is, but my preparation remains key to what I do. Whether I do well or badly, I will always have prepared for a Test as well as I can.”