Kevin Pietersen: 'England must accept criticism'

Kevin Pietersen has told his England teammates that they must be prepared to take criticism on the chin in the wake of their current Ashes failings.

Having comfortably won the home series over the summer, the tourists trail Australia 2-0 Down Under following a 218-run defeat at the Adelaide Oval on Monday.

"When we win we quick to take a lot of plaudits. So when we lose, we gotta accept the criticism & I'm totally cool with that! #wewillbeback," Pietersen wrote on Twitter.

Australia can reclaim the Ashes and end a run of three straight series losses to England with another win in the third Test, which gets underway at the WACA in Perth on December 13.