Axed Pietersen sinks boot into struggling England

June 28 (Reuters) - Sacked batsman Kevin Pietersen has put the blow-torch on Alastair Cook's England, saying the team's series defeat to Sri Lanka showed senior players were still shell-shocked from the 5-0 Ashes whitewash.

Pietersen also heaped additional pressure on out-of-form skipper Cook, claiming his lack of runs was playing on his mind and making him appear a "rabbit in the headlights".

"England were in winning positions in both matches but blew it, and I believe that is a symptom of the senior players being very unsettled," Pietersen, controversially dumped from the team in the wake of the Ashes debacle, wrote in his column in British newspaper, the Telegraph.

"They are not turning up for the captain or coach. (Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson looked jaded at Headingley,"

"Why? Why was Jimmy so emotional? We have lost a lot of matches in the past but he has never shown such emotion.

"You can only kid the public for so long," he said.
"If you tell them this is a brave new dawn, that the team will play an aggressive brand of cricket and try to be positive, but then play the same old negative stuff, the supporters will soon turn away from the team in droves."

"I saw in Cook at Headingley the same look (former captain) Andrew Strauss had when he played his last test at Lord's," he said.
"He was a rabbit in the headlights. It was a shame to see Cooky looking that way."