Ex-England captain Kevin Pietersen‘s no-holds-barred attack on Ben Stokes and Co’s approach against Australia in the ongoing Ashes has not been received well by all. One former teammate of Pietersen who came to the England team’s defence was Steve Harmison.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Harmison said –

“I don’t think it was justified, I think this team has had one or two bad days in 12-13 months. I think some of the stuff that they were having a go at them (for), too matey, I think there’s a time and a place.”

He claimed that Pietersen was being far too harsh on the team and needed to be more mindful of his words.

Pietersen had called England’s performance on Day 1 “shambolic”. He added that he hoped the coaching staff gave a “hammering” in the dressing to the players.

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Australia finished with a first innings total of 416 after a Steve Smith century, whose excellent record in London continues. However, it could have been much worse, with England pulling things back late on the first day.

Harmison further said –

“I’m not going to knock Kevin for having his opinion – he’s always had it. He was always forceful with it, it wasn’t always warranted, it wasn’t always best received!” Harmison isn’t the first of Pietersen’s former teammates to speak about how his presence in the dressing room wasn’t always a positive one, leading to many soured relationships.