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Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has called Kevin Pietersen as a "great foe" of Australian cricket and suggested England wouldn't beat Australia in this summer's Ashes with the team's "back office" issues affecting results.

"There's going to be some really tough times ahead here for England and they need to sort their back of office out quickly, otherwise we're going to see England fall well behind in test rankings," he said.

Hayden also described Pietersen as a spectacular player who has captured the imagination of the Australian cricketing public.

"There have been very few players in the last one, or certainly two, generations that have had the ability to be able to entertain and to direct their attention towards positive a cricket like Kevin Pietersen has," he said.