Cricket Ashes Series: There may never have been a Test debutant quite like Kevin Pietersen.

It takes gargantuan self-confidence not just to survive the pressure of an Ashes baptism at Lord's but to wallow in it unashamedly, in the belief that life is throwing him a whopping great party.

For Pietersen, yesterday was pretty humdrum: he was dubbed egotistical by a former Australian great and dared to tell Lord's members that it was time for them to "give the Aussies some stick".

And, just in case you imagined his sex life was unfulfilled, girls, the only guy still unattached in the England side chose the build-up to his first Test by restating his intention to "have a good time - and stay single".

He has fast become the Robbie Williams of cricket.

In the varicoloured world of Kevin Pietersen, it is hard to know where to begin. MCC members will be more certain.

Pietersen's call for them to "nail the Aussies" is not likely to usher them into a jingoistic age by abandoning lunchtime crudites for all-day crudities.

"It would be good for the crowd to get right behind the England team and nail it from ball one," he said. "I don't think the Australians like it.

"The Rose Bowl atmosphere was sensational, and Headingley and Birmingham were pretty good, but I have been pretty surprised about the Lord's crowd. But, there again, you have all those members and people who understand everything about cricket.

"Lord's is a special place and a place to be respected. But I was playing grade cricket in Sydney when England were last in Australia and, jeez, we copped it every single day, from the crowd, on chat shows and adverts.

"The English get absolutely crucified and I think that we should do the same to them."

The Australian great to take Pietersen to task was Mark Waugh, who averaged 86 in his last Ashes series in England four years ago, and did so in near-silence.

Speaking from Sydney, he highlighted three potential flaws in Pietersen's batting: a tendency to play across the line, an overly angled bat when hitting through the off side, and an ego that, if unchecked, could succumb to the wiliest attack in international cricket.

"I don't think his technique is suited to Test cricket at this stage," Waugh, said. "I'm also not sure he has the patience for Test cricket. He needs to keep his ego in check. If he goes out there trying to live up to all his hype, that could be his big downfall. But England need someone to take Australia on so on that point alone I suppose he is worth the gamble."

Guardian Service