London: England cricket was heading nowhere under coach Peter Moores six months back, 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 flamboyant batsman Kevin Pietersen.

Pietersen, who stepped down as captain following his row with Moores, said England cricket has achieved enough under Flower and has 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 a cricket website.

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,” Pietersen said.

Pietersen refused to believe that the Australians were toothless sans Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist.

“I think we’ve got a good chance, but I don’t believe for one second that Australia are not as good a team without the likes of Warne and Gilchrist because their strength and depth is pretty good. ”

(PTI)