Pietersen's damning verdict on England

Kevin Pietersen has delivered a damning assessment of England's batting in the Magellan Ashes, but said both sides have "big holes" in a bowler-dominated series.

Pietersen, who swaps the Channel 9 commentary box for the KFC Big Bash League for the remainder of this summer, said he was left crushed by England's collapse on the fifth day in Adelaide to hand Australia a 2-0 lead.

"The end of day three, day four really excited me about England's chances, and I think they lured us in big time. But that collapse …" Pietersen told cricket.com.au at a Melbourne Stars camp.

"It's just frustrating … they actually played really well for 24, 48 hours. But then the pressure came, it was second ball snick, Woakes, 10th ball Root, dead and buried."

While 'KP' was damning in his assessment of England's batting, he said there were "big holes in both teams" but Australia's ability to convert starts into centuries, and superior bowlers gave the home side the edge.

The South Africa-born veteran of 104 Tests joined the chorus of past-players who have called for England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow to move up the order.

"Bairstow (is) too low, he could move right up to five. He's probably their best player at the moment," Pietersen said.

"He's a proper player. He's wasted down there, absolutely wasted. Give him more responsibility and let him get hundreds.

"I'm not sure about Moeen Ali, I don't know what's happening there.

"They should put Bairstow up. They should get (fast bowler Mark) Wood in, get a bit of pace going.

"I'm not convinced of (No.3 batter James) Vince. (Dawid) Malan hasn't convinced me either. (Alastair) Cook's having an absolute shocker.

"There's a lot of gaps – there's not enough players on tour to replace all of them."

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Pietersen said the recent trend of the WACA Ground to be a batsman's paradise rather than the fast, bouncy venue of old offered England a glimmer of hope against Australia's fast-bowling battery.

"Can (England) still win the Ashes? Stats-wise, yes they can. Do I think they will? I think they're going to find it very difficult, but who knows," Pietersen said.

"It's horrible when you go two-nil down. Then you go to the WACA and you know you've got no chance, and it quickly becomes three-nil. But let's wait and see, let's see what the WACA wicket is like – it hasn't been as fast as it has been in the past."

The third Magellan Ashes Test gets underway at the WACA Ground on Thursday.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21