Former England batsman, Kevin Pietersen, is no stranger to creating controversy. The flamboyant and outspoken batsman has now created some waves with his latest claim that the bunch of Australian and England batsman are no-gooders.

The South African born Englishman’s assessment comes after a below-par display of batting at the Adelaide Oval, were none of the teams’ batsmen could dominate for a prolonged period.

"I just think the batting from both sides is no good. I don't think it's any good at all," Pietersen said.

"I think there's insecurities with [Cameron] Bancroft, [Usman] Khawaja, [Shaun] Marsh's set up, [David] Warner hasn't made a play yet in the series apart from that red-inker at the Gabba.

"And then for England, Cook is all over the place, [Mark] Stoneman's shown signs but not converted, [James] Vince is very unconvincing, [Dawid] Malan is very unconvincing and [Joe] Root can't convert a fifty.

The former England star was particular displeased with how Alaistair Cook has played, which is not much of a surprise since the two aren’t exactly best friends. Indeed, Cook was the captain during the Ashes of 2013-14 – which was Pietersen’s last appearance for England.

"So that's my issue, the batting sides are not very good and the unit's not very good at all."

"It looks like Cook is not very interested. Just the way that he's got out, the manner of his dismissals and also the way he's walked off the field once he's got out. That's the sign of a bloke who goes, 'You know what? Maybe my time is up.' But he's also quite resilient so can he turn it around,” Pietersen opined.

Pietersen then moved on to play down the form of the Australian pace bowlers, insisting that the batsmen’s lack of intent is what allowed the bowlers to take advantage. He also suggested that the English batsmen are acquainted with the pace at which their rivals bowl – so it is nothing new and shouldn’t be a cause of concern for them.

"They're not bowling at a speed they haven't faced throughout their careers. One or two balls have been 150kph but they're in the 140s, which isn't something that people haven't faced before.

“So to me it looks like the England batters are making out that this Australian bowling attack in their head is some of the fastest they've ever faced, is the scariest bowling they've ever faced and it looks like they're just very nervous when they go out to bat and it's frustrating as a commentator because I want to see somebody try to get on top of the Australian bowlers.

Pietersen then suggested that the body language of the batsmen also plays a huge role in how they will bat, which is why he has called for the English batsmen to get on top and be fearless in their approach.

"That's what I did in my career. I was like, 'No, no. The quicker you come the quicker you're gonna go.' And even if I didn't feel good on occasions, I made it look like I felt good because that's the way you need to do what you need to do in Australia. You need to get on top of them and you need to show them that you're not scared and you're not worried and there's no one in that England side at the moment that doesn't look scared."