Kevin Pietersen has marked England's retention of the Ashes by proclaiming that it would never have been possible without his rebellion against the former coach Peter Moores that caused both men to lose their jobs.

Pietersen was replaced as England captain after a troubled tour of India two years ago when he was scathing about Moores' ability as an international coach in a confidential report to the England and Wales Cricket Board and issued what amounted to a "him or me" ultimatum.

Moores was also sacked, leaving English cricket in crisis and paving the way for the appointment of Andrew Strauss as captain, the promotion of Andy Flower to coach, and the gradual progress to a united and disciplined Ashes-winning tour.

Pietersen, joyful at England's Ashes success, believes that his actions have now been vindicated. "You know what – I have never said this before – I lost the captaincy, I got rid of the captaincy for the good of English cricket, and we would not be here today if I had not done what I did then. There is no way in this world that we would have succeeded under that regime and would have won the Ashes again in Australia after 24 years. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower need all the plaudits for an unbelievable 18 months and an unbelievable preparation for this team, and they are the right leadership for this team."

Pietersen will be accused of reopening old wounds but it was a strikingly candid assessment from a man who persistently speaks his mind. England's Strauss-Flower combination has brought integrity, planning and unity to English cricket, with captain and coach sharing a similar philosophy. Pietersen and Moores, whatever their respective talents, lacked that empathy, and players and coaching staff were often at odds in India about the best way forward. It was inevitable that Moores, a thoroughly decent individual and a respected county coach, struggled to create the same focus and togetherness after inheriting a team that was whitewashed 5-0 in Australia four years ago.

Today Moores, now the Lancashire coach, was keener to praise England's success than to respond directly to Pietersen, especially with one Test remaining and the series not yet won. "This is an important time for England to get focused for Sydney and I know that will be Andy Flower's priority," he said, having remained close to Flower since bringing him into the England setup as batting coach.

"Nobody knows what would have happened if me and KP were still there as coach and captain, just as nobody knows what would have happened if KP had got his way and me and Andy had both been sacked. That's in the past and I've never wanted to speculate much about it. I'm just delighted for Andy and all the players, including Kevin, that they've done so well."

Pietersen was, meanwhile, generous in his praise for the captain, saying: "Straussy is a solid bloke and character, a simple person who does things systematically and does things very well for everyone else. He looks after himself after he has looked after everyone else which is a great quality of a great captain. What he has achieved has not been achieved for 24 years and I have always had utmost respect for Straussy."

When Strauss agreed to pick up the pieces of a fractured England dressing room, Pietersen was one of the first people he rang. Pietersen recalled: "When he gave me the phone call and said, 'The ECB want me to captain; are you OK with that?' I said go for it, Straussy, you're a top man. I said I'm a good mate of yours, go for it, do whatever you need to, and I've been proved right. It was a good decision by the ECB."

Perhaps for the first time since his rebellion Pietersen has rediscovered absolute contentment in an England dressing room. His rebellion – which even his greatest supporters feel was misconceived – is now consigned to the past, his hurt at being depicted as the bad guy largely assuaged, his confidence that he is a valued member of a successful team once again high.

He was asked if Strauss had proved himself a better captain than Pietersen himself would have proved. "That is such a difficult question," he said. "Who knows? All I can say is they have done an incredible job and I am so happy for both of them. They are very good at keeping us level-headed and grounded and solid. Sure, we will celebrate this win for a day or so and then we will talk about Sydney and trying to win this series 3-1.

"It's the best feeling in my career, nothing beats this. As an Englishman, winning in England in 2005 was amazing after it had not been done for a certain amount of years, but people always talked about the fact that when you go to Australia it is a different kettle of fish and the last time we came here we got hammered.

"This time we have come here knowing the preparation has been right, knowing what to expect from the crowds, from the public in the street, people in hotels and taxi drivers to players out in the middle. We were told to beware of this and we knew what to expect. We always thought we would do a lot better than last time, I was confident of that and that has proved right." Pietersen is not the only player to be have been bemused by Australia's creeping respect for English cricket. This is a changing country, more rounded, in many ways more impressive. But the edge of its sporting culture, certainly in terms of cricket, seems to have softened, perhaps merely because of a run of relative failure, perhaps forever.

Even four years ago, barely a day would pass without anybody connected with an Ashes tour being accosted by someone and told how useless England was – the cricket team and the nation. Those experiences have lessened. "We felt that respect before we started the Tests. The last time we came here we got hammered. As we got off the aeroplane people in hotels, taxi drivers, everybody just abused us. This time before the first Test, we were talking about it among ourselves, we were saying: 'No one is abusing us here, this can't be a bad thing.' Australia's confidence was down."

Pietersen believes that a win in Sydney, and a 3-1 scoreline, would be an accurate reflection of England's superiority. "We want to win in Sydney and take the Ashes back to the UK properly. Taking the Ashes home is the focus, though, and I know the country is going nuts about this, on Twitter my phone has gone ballistic."

There is a real danger if Pietersen overtweets that Ricky Ponting will not be the only player missing the final Test because of a finger injury. He heads for Sydney full of himself. It seemed the right time to ask him about his wink at Ponting during the Melbourne Test. Pietersen was given "not out" on a TV referral for a catch at the wicket and the Guardian reported exclusively that Ponting's subsequent heated debate with the umpire Aleem Dar was inflamed by Pietersen's tongue-in-cheek suggestion that he had hit it.

"Listen, the technology was there for everybody to see, umpires make their decision. If I had nicked it I would have been out. I was out two runs later, so who cares? But I have been called a wind-up merchant before."