Pietersen relishes Boxing Day stage

Kevin Pietersen has always prided himself on being the man for the big occasion, but in his estimation, nothing that he's experienced in his career to date can rival the prospect of playing in a potential Ashes decider in front of nearly 100,000 spectators at the MCG on Boxing Day. With the series perfectly poised after Australia's emphatic victory in Perth last week, and expectation levels in both countries at fever pitch, the grandest stage awaits for a player who loves nothing better than to be right at the centre of attention.

In 2005, Pietersen played the defining knock of the series, and of his life, as he hauled England out of a final-day tail-spin with a brilliant, counter-attacking 158, to ensure a draw and secure the return of the Ashes for the first time in 16 years. Going into last week's WACA Test, he looked in the right form and frame of mind to administer a similar coup de grace, having put the Adelaide Test way out of Australia's reach with a career-best 227, but in the event he was scythed down on a lively deck for scores of 0 and 3. That experience, however, has not dented his desire to be right in the thick of the action.

"Leading 2-1 in '05 going into an Oval Test was pretty big, but this is huge," said Pietersen. "Having won a Test, lost a Test, two to play, and one to win to take the Ashes home is an incredible opportunity for the team. I don't know what ticket sales are like but it could be potentially around 400,000 people watching the five days. That is so exciting.

"I've played a little bit, and I get goosebumps thinking about it," he added. "Everyone in the team including the management and the Australians are really looking forward to what should be a great week's cricket if the sun shines. Any day of Test cricket is amazing, but if you get 100,000 watching you on a particular day, you're pretty pleased."

It's a sentiment shared by the only Victorian in the Australian squad, Peter Siddle, who is desperate to make the cut for this match, despite being the likeliest seamer to miss out should the selectors opt to play the debutant spinner, Michael Beer. "Any Boxing Day Test is going to be big but an Ashes series just makes everything a lot more exciting," said Siddle.

"All this talk about the big crowd, you can't stop to think about it," he added. "There were 60-70,000 for South Africa [in 2008-09], they are predicting another 20,000 on top of that. It's a big increase and you want to be a part of it and hear the roar. All the boys are looking forward to it and hopefully it does turn out to be a record."

The Melbourne curator, Cameron Hodgkins, has already set about preparing the grassier of the two MCG strips that had been earmarked for this Test, which implies that another all-seam attack might not be the worst idea for Australia, especially given that they've got Steve Smith's legspin waiting in reserve. But whatever happens, Pietersen is confident that England will be better prepared for the challenge that awaits them, particularly from Mitchell Johnson whom, he admitted, had bowled an exceptional spell of inswing bowling that exposed a few unprepared techniques.

"He took us by surprise for sure," said Pietersen. "He bowled well, really, really well and had a good game of cricket, and we're going to have to prepare ourselves for that swinging ball. We knew he could swing it, but we didn't realise he would swing it that much. He did some really good work in the week off he had, but we will be a lot better prepared for it here in Melbourne so we will play him a lot better."

As for the row over the choice of wickets, Pietersen said he had no issue with Australia choosing a livelier deck. "Of course they are going to do it," he said. "They've just had success in Perth on a bouncy wicket, but we've had success around the world on bouncy wickets. We lost that Test within half an hour, 5 for 20, that's where we lost it. Full swinging balls knocked over our top order. We didn't lose it to a bouncy wicket. We lost it to balls that swung that we didn't prepare ourselves properly for. We will be prepared fully for everything come Saturday morning so I don't think the wicket will play any different part."

An added aspect of the Perth contest was the renewed chirpiness of Australia's cricketers, after a subdued performance in the one-sided match at Adelaide. From the moment Mitchell Johnson started trading verbals with James Anderson during his half-century on the first day, the tensions between the teams were cranked up an extra notch, and it was Australia who came out on top in every respect. Right at the heart of it all was Siddle, whose confrontation with Matt Prior on the second evening was especially fiery, and who admitted he's at his best when let off the leash a little bit.

"It's part of my game anyway,and I think that's when I'm at my best," said Siddle. "That's how Ricky goes about it with me, he knows that if he can get me up and firing and at my best, I can get the rest of the boys going. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't, but in this case it has and no doubt down the track it won't. But hopefully we can keep it going down the series and we can keep on top of them.

"It was a bit different from Adelaide," he added. "When you're 1 for 500 [sic] the sledging isn't going to look as obvious, you're not going to have much to say, and you're not going to be out there as much. But both teams are going hard at it, it's good fun out there. They're at us, we're at them, and it makes it lively out there. And no doubt the spectators like to see it."

Pietersen, however, played down Australia's fighting talk, and suggested that things had been rather more intimidating in past series. "I've played against Australia in I don't know how many Test matches, and believe me, the first time I played and the second time I came out here, with the likes of Warne, McGrath etc, there were some pretty big verbal contests. I haven't seen or heard anything different from what's happened in the first two Tests, let alone last year in England. There are not really any big chirpers or sledgers.

"It's England v Australia, an Ashes series," he added. "Blokes get the red mist occasionally and you're allowed to do that, things happen. You're playing for that little urn and it's historic, it's huge. But there's nothing that's been overboard, and if things go overboard match referees deal with stuff like that and there's been nothing like that. There's not been anything close to it."

Either way, Pietersen is determined to move beyond the Perth experience, and concentrate solely on the challenge that awaits in Melbourne. "You can't live in the past or think about things in the past," he said. "You have to focus your attention on what's to come and that's what all the team are doing. We took momentum into Perth and we got hammered, so we're not thinking about things that have happened.

"The key to us being successful on this Ashes trip would just be to forget about last week," he added. "Learn from the mistakes we made, but just forget about last week. The open and honest meeting we had the evening the game finished was a very good meeting. We have left that and it's time to look forward now. We've got to learn from the mistakes we made and we'll be better prepared come Sunday."