The resignation of Kevin Pietersen as England captain this morning, quickly followed by that of the coach Peter Moores, has caused many England fans to tear their hair out. Surely this is nothing short of a catastrophe with an Ashes series approaching in the summer? Well, no.
Harmony in the dressing-room is a crucial factor in any winning team, and this has not been the case since Pietersen's appointment. It is no secret that KP and Moores do not see eye to eye. The importance of respect between coach and players at the highest levels cannot be overestimated, and it is apparent this was lacking between captain and coach here.
Moores was a decent county wicket-keeper, but found his true calling as a coach, taking Sussex to the second and first division championships in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
He was also successful as England A coach and as director of the ECB academy before taking the first XI role. He is very much a statistician and technician however, more often found behind a computer screen than the side screen. He is also quite a reserved character.
Pietersen, in contrast, is a brash, headstrong, supremely talented player who likes to get his own way. The shunning of his native South Africa, due to the quota issue, shows this. This obvious clash of personalities, as well as chasm in cricketing ability, had led to friction from the start but has not been helped by recent results.
What Moores had going for him was his coaching prowess, and with this seemingly deserting him, a blow-up such as this is unsurprising.
The apparent catalyst for these events was the omission of Michael Vaughan from the tour team to the West Indies. This shows that Pietersen wanted the captain to have a veto on selection, a selection, in this case, that was completely unjustified.
It also indicates that Pietersen wanted, and needed help with, the captaincy, the only reason, surely, behind Vaughan's inclusion. This not only shows the mistake made by the ECB in picking KP in the first place as captain, but also the dangerous precedent Vaughan's inclusion would have set.
As such, the best thing for English cricket was for Pietersen no longer to be captain and Moores to depart. Both have happened, and now England can approach a very winnable West Indian tour and a weakened Australia with more focused players, a happier dressing-room and a Kevin Pietersen free from a job he was struggling to do.
4 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete