Sky News has this morning reported that Pietersen has tendered his resignation after a week of turmoil at the top of English cricket.
Pietersen's very public fallout with England coach Peter Moores left the England and Wales Cricket Board with a hugely difficult choice at the beginning of this Ashes year.
It appeared initially that Moores would be removed from his post after 18 months. However, after an emergency meeting on Tuesday night, Pietersen's own position came under threat.
Moores' future remains undecided, and there is no information yet about whether he will coach the side in the West Indies next month.
Should Pietersen's resignation be confirmed, Andrew Strauss will be the strong favourite to lead the Test side in the Caribbean and through to the Ashes.
However, Strauss is not a member of England's one-day side, so the ECB would also have to appoint a new captain for limited overs cricket.
Hugh Morris, the director of England cricket, had been canvassing opinion among England's senior players following Pietersen's criticism of Moores.
And it appears the reports he received did not back up the captain's belief that Moores was chiefly responsible for England's problems.
In comments published on Sunday, Pietersen said: "This situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies.
"Everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team."
Former England captain Bob Willis believes divisions in the England dressing room have led to Pietersen's decision.
"There's obviously been several cliques in the England team since the Duncan Fletcher era," said Willis.
"Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison were not part of the Fletcher family and it seems they get on with Moores better than they did with Fletcher.
"Flintoff and Pietersen are not like souls at all. Make no mistake they are not two peas in a pod so I can see Flintoff siding with Moores rather than Pietersen."
No comments:
Post a Comment