We'll wipe the slate clean, Pietersen says

London Last year Australia lost their aura and now, as both teams prepare for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne amid a flurry of words from either side, Kevin Pietersen reckons their fear factor has gone as well.

"I don't feel intimidated by the Australians," Pietersen said on Wednesday when asked about the sledging during the Perth Test.

"I think when you're under extreme amounts of pressure, you talk a lot more. We made a hiccup last week and yes, we were constructive in the criticism that we chucked around the team meeting about preparation. But we haven't come out and made any bold, huge statements. We understand that they are very vulnerable - there are a lot of areas in their team that are very vulnerable," he added.

Unfortunate anomaly

Australians reading this might be forgiven for thinking that it was their team who capitulated in Perth, not England. But the world according to KP veers between disarming honesty and outrageous spin, and England's defeat in the third Test is dismissed as an unfortunate anomaly.

"We lost the Test match within half an hour when we lost five wickets for 20 in our first innings," said Pietersen.

"But I can promise you right now, I have no worries about losing momentum or anything. Because I know I didn't prepare for a swinging ball as much as Mitchell Johnson swung the ball. I didn't realise he could swing it back as much as he did. And none of our batters did," he said.

"We just didn't line him up properly. But we still got 20 wickets and if we'd batted better we could still have won that Test match."

Johnson, who was aided by an unusual wind at the Waca, probably will not swing the ball with such devastating effect at the MCG, as the sheer size of the stadium keeps the breeze out.

But even if he does, Pietersen is confident that England's habit of bouncing back hard after defeat will ensure there are no more setbacks towards retaining the Ashes.

"We've seen the stats on how we've turned it round before after such a heavy defeat," said Pietersen.

"It's just a case of wiping the slate clean. Last week has gone. There's nothing we can do about last week. "All our batters are very confident. We've just got 40 wickets in two Tests in Australia, so our bowlers are very happy as well. I just think we've got a wonderful opportunity to do something that hasn't been done for 24 years," he said.

"I think that's driving us all on to do something amazing. We only have to win one more Test match, or draw the next two, and we will have done that little thing that's amazing."

Apart from his candid assessment that he did not prepare thoroughly enough for Perth, Pietersen reckons he is batting better than ever after his 227 in Adelaide.