Ashes: England ready for Australia swing - Pietersen

[Mr007]

Batsman Kevin Pietersen says England will be better prepared for Australia's swing bowling in the fourth Ashes Test after their 267-run defeat in Perth.

Australia levelled the series after bowling England out for 187 and 123, Mitchell Johnson taking nine wickets.

"We've had great success against swing bowlers in the past," said Pietersen.

"The ball swings in England throughout the summer so swing bowling's not a problem. I just don't think we prepared ourselves for it," he told BBC 5 live.

Pietersen played down the importance of momentum in the series, after Australia's 267-run victory last week brought the series level at 1-1 with two Tests to play, and expressed his excitement ahead of the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

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"It's huge. Doing it four years ago was incredible and there's a lot more riding on this Test, so I can imagine the excitement and the noise levels and the abuse we're going to cop is going to be huge," the 30-year-old said.

"But if you can't look forward to this, there's no point doing what we do."

Pietersen admitted the team's batting performance had let them down in the third Test, but he said they had identified and addressed those problems and moved on.

"We didn't bat as well as we could have - we understand the reasons and a had good thrash in the team meeting about the reasons," he said.

"We've come to grips with that and will be a lot better prepared come Melbourne."

Pietersen also defended under-fire batsman Paul Collingwood, whose place at number five in the batting order is thought to have been under threat from the in-form Ian Bell.

"There's no talk about that in our dressing room, we only talk about good stuff," he said.

"We support players who are not going through the best of times, because it happens to us all. We all know Colly's someone who, when his back is up against the wall, scores runs.

"I'll be very surprised if we're not 100-3 this week and he gets us a big hundred and in a really good position - I've seen it so many times before."

Meanwhile, England have been boosted by the news that bowler James Anderson is expected to be fit for the Melbourne Test, despite feeling stiffness in his side after the match in Perth.

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