Senior members of Australia's cricket community fear star batsman Kevin Pietersen could dish out retribution on Ricky Ponting's men during this summer's Ashes series after he was sensationally dumped from England's one-day and Twenty20 squads.
The feisty Pietersen reacted angrily when told of his axing for the up-coming limited overs and Twenty20 series against Pakistan, tweeting to the world: "Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too. It's a f**k up!!"
It's that anger the Aussies sense may backfire on them when England land in November to defend the Ashes.
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who oversaw three successful Ashes campaigns, is wary of the damage the big-hitting Pietersen can cause.
"To think of Kevin Pietersen not being in their one-day team or their 20Twenty team, I can’t really believe that to be totally honest," Taylor said on Wednesday.
"That's an interesting decision on behalf of the English selectors."
"He is the sort of player that can be hit and miss sometimes, but when he hits the ball it goes a long way."
"Kevin Pietersen is the sort of player who can win a game."
"He's not the sort of player you leave out lightly. I'd be surprised if he's not back shortly."
Former Test paceman Stuart Clark, who played with Pietersen at Hampshire, added: "I was shocked when I heard about it (the sacking)."
"He was arguably their best player when we were there for the Ashes last year – in all forms of the game."
"It's going to be hard for Kevin to deal with but they may be trying to get him in a good frame of mind come the Ashes."
"He doesn’t like being left out of the team and he's going to try and prove a point and hopefully that's not this summer."
Opening batsman Simon Katich expects the combative Pietersen to be a central figure in England's Ashes defence.
"He'd be disappointed with his form in recent times – he hasn't made as many runs as he would have liked – but it is a big call to drop a player of his stature," Katich said.
"They (the selectors) obviously felt it was necessary but he's a key player for them in the Ashes and I will be very surprised if he doesn’t fight his way back because he's too good a player not to."
Taylor expects a hard-fought Ashes series but is not prepared to make any outrageous predictions on the outcome.
He predicts the visitors won’t be caught under-done as in previous campaigns.
"Australia will have an advantage playing at home but I get the feeling England are better prepared this time around," he said.
"They are coming a little earlier (and) they are playing more lead-up games before the Brisbane Test, which will certainly help them."
"Australia are going to India so they will be at least match toughened but it promises to be a damn good (Ashes) series."