Kevin Pietersen blasts England over 'shambolic' Ashes scenes

Kevin Pietersen has let rip at England at tea time after images showed the host's smiling and talking to the Australian batters, despite staring down the barrel of a mammoth chase in the second Ashes test. England sent Australia into bat under overcast conditions on day one, but David Warner and Usman Khawaja navigated the new ball to diminish the hosts' hopes.

Steve Smith and Travis Head then took the day away with the former Australian captain finishing the day unbeaten on 85 runs and searching for his 32nd test century. Australia appeared calm and relaxed under the tricky conditions with the batters the first to emerge from the dressing rooms after a rain delay.

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And the image of Ben Stokes, Joe Root and the English trailing behind the Australians to join them on the field after the delay irked Pietersen. The England great was left fuming over images of the English players joking around with the Aussies, despite facing an uphill batter.

He also harked back to the past generation of cricketers and questioned whether you would ever see the likes of Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan sharing a laugh during play, which sets the tone for the team.

“Not a lot has caught my eye from an English perspective … It’s been shambolic. Absolutely Shambolic,” Pietersen said on Sky Sports. “You have overhead conditions, you have a wicket that suits your bowlers, you have bowlers running in at 78, 79 mile an hour.

“It’s one thing walking here, swanning around saying, ‘Hey, this is a wonderful team to play in, we’re creating the best environment.’ But this isn’t Ashes cricket.

“I’ve played Ashes cricket, I’ve played nearly 30 Test matches against Australia. The Australians were outside to bat before the English bowlers. 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 are out there waiting for England. They’re the ones that should be in the room saying, ‘No, no, we don’t want to bat,’ and it’s all too easy and it’s all too nice.”

Reporter Bharat Sundaresan also made note of the image when Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were both waiting on the boundary line for the start of play with the English team no where to be seen.

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Pietersen's frustration comes as Smith proved why he is the best test batter of his generation having become the first person to score 9,000 runs in under 100 test matches. He reached the milestone only two innings shy of Kumar Sangakkara's 172 innings.

Smith ended on 85 not out and will be seeking his 32nd test century. The 34-year-old came out to bat on a mission having scored 24 runs off his first 17 balls. He then settled into his rhythm and left England no option but to play his game having reached the day's end unscathed.

Head's quick-fire 77 off 73 balls compounded England's struggles, which saw them send Australia in amid cloudy conditions.

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