By Paul Collingwood England batsman

The Melbourne Test was disappointing. We were outplayed from ball one and it was a very difficult match for us.

The ball seamed around both ways on the first day and it was difficult to bat on. In fact, it nipped around more than I've seen before anywhere in Test cricket.

It's surprising that people can have a dig at a world-class player like Kevin Pietersen

We did well on the second day to get them 84-5 but when two guys like Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds start playing positively they can take the game away from you quickly.

We do hear about the criticism that's going around. There was so much build-up to the series that if you do start losing - and obviously we've lost four now - there's going to be criticism from all angles.

You either let that affect you or you move on. We go out there and try our hardest in the pitch.

As long as you are honest with yourself and as a team analyse where you can do better then you can't do much more.

Kevin Pietersen has been singled out, with people suggesting he's not a team man.

I would say it's fairly surprising that some people can have a dig at a world-class player. He's an exceptional player and has a lot of presence on the field.

He's confident in the way he plays. He goes out there and gives it a go but he's certainly one of the team and all the players know that.

My wife and I spent Christmas lunch with friends in Melbourne

I love batting at number four for England but Kevin's there now.

He had been batting with the tail in the previous games and he's our best player so the more balls he can face the better.

Kevin and I were among the small group of players who chose not to have lunch with the team on Christmas Day.

It was a purely voluntary lunch and we discussed it a few months ago. For the guys who had families out in Australia and close friends in Melbourne it was an opportunity for us to do our own thing.

My wife and I have friends who live in Melbourne and who came to our wedding in South Africa.

So we spent Christmas lunch with them, along with my parents, who had just arrived in Australia.

We are going to do everything in our ability not to be whitewashed

It's no disrespect to the team or anything like that.

We had training in the morning, we didn't finish until 12.30pm and then there was a team meeting at 5.30pm, so there was a pretty small window for doing your own thing anyway.

There was never any problem internally and we had a fabulous day.

Duncan Fletcher's record as an England coach is second to none. People are calling for his head but he's been fantastic for us.

I'm sure he will continue to do a fantastic job and I would not be at all surprised if he is still England coach come next summer.

We are going to do everything in our ability not to be whitewashed.

We've lost the Ashes but don't want to be beaten 5-0. We'll show as much grit and determination as we can and hopefully come out with a good positive result.