English cricket was heading nowhere under coach Peter Moores six months ago but with Andy Flower at the helm things have changed and the players are confident to face the Australians in next month’s Ashes, said Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen, who stepped down as captain following his row with Moores six months ago, said England cricket has achieved enough under Flower and have left behind the “unhappy” days when they did not have much voice.

“The team wasn’t happy (under Moores), things weren’t right and England cricket was going nowhere. That’s the reason I did what I did in January. But I believe in the last six months the team has made big progress before a huge, huge series against Australia. I’m very happy, and everyone’s happy,” Pietersen said.

“We’ve seen how Andy Flower has settled into his job and how well Straussy (Andrew Strauss) is doing. The team is so happy, everyone knows how excited we are, and how everyone’s gelled,” he was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

Pietersen indicated that the players did not have much voice under Moores which affected the dressing room atmosphere. “If things hadn’t changed, I wouldn’t have been as confident as I am now (about winning back the Ashes).”

“This team has done well enough in the last six months to challenge Australia. I’m not going to say we are going to win, I’m just going to say we’ll be alright. It’s about the way we’ve played, the happiness in the dressing room, and the way the players have had a voice, and how they’ve wanted to go about doing things. It hasn’t just been one voice, but a collective among the management committee,” Pietersen said.

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