Kevin Pietersen calls for six England changes after miserable Ashes defeat

England slumped to a heavy 4-1 Ashes series defeat with the ECB set to ‘review’ a difficult tour

Kevin Pietersen believes only five current England players should stay in the Test XI after a miserable Ashes defeat was confirmed.

Australia put the icing on the cake on their series win on Thursday, sealing the fifth and final Test in Sydney by five wickets to claim a convincing 4-1 victory.

For now, it looks like captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum look set to stay on in their roles, despite criticism of their preparation and approach down under. The ECB have stated that a “review” is already underway.

Kevin Pietersen believes only five England players are good enough to compete with Australia and India (Getty Images)

Yet ex-England star Pietersen, who won one and lost two series’ in Australia, believes only five England players – Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook and Stokes – are good enough to compete with the likes of India and Australia.

“I’ll help with the thorough investigation that the ECB are going to conduct, right here, for free,” Pietersen said, posting on X.

“Apart from Stokes, Root, Archer, Bethell & Brook WITH a brain, the team isn’t good enough to compete with Australia or India. It’s proven just on this tour with Australia missing most of their best players.

“All the pre-tour game chat, discipline chat and now investigations, they are now mere distractions. It’s very simple, as I’ve stated above.”

The likes of openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, bowlers Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse, and wicket-keeper Jamie Smith all endured tough tours, while Ollie Pope’s Test career appears to be over – at least in the short-term – after Bethell’s debut century in Sydney.

England have not won any of their last four series’ against Australia and India, losing heavily abroad and drawing 2-2 at home.

The Test team will next be in action in June for a three-match Test series against New Zealand. McCullum’s next focus will be white-ball cricket, as England’s ODI teams tour Sri Lanka later this month before the T20 World Cup starts in February.