Pietersen v. Moores: The Battle With No Winners

In Kevin Pietersen's short reign as captain there have been highs and lows, but as many will have predicted it has all ended in tears.

In one of the most disastrous days in English cricketing history, both Pietersen and coach Peter Moores have resigned from their positions.

With Pietersen in charge for a mere five months at the helm, he took charge of three Test matches and 10 ODIs (not including the games against New Zealand and Scotland when Collingwood was suspended). Bringing a win, draw and loss from the Test matches, and four wins, one no result, and five losses from his ODIs.

With supposed rifts in the camp for a long while, it seems that the final straw was the non-selection of Michael Vaughan for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. In my opinion, the decision should have gone the way of the captain as it is his team, and he is in charge of almost all aspects to do with the team.

Also, the captaincy seemed to be bringing out the best in KP, averaging 52.40 with two hundreds in his five test innings as captain, and averaging 60 in his 10 ODIs with two fifties and one hundred.

It seemed the extra responsibility drove Pietersen to do even better. Also, the Test series against India should have been won, not really down to Pietersen, just down to some awful bowling.

With Peter Moores having lost four of the seven series in charge, he was surely the man to go.

But, it seems that the ECB have taken a very old fashioned view on this, not really seeming to take the view of the outspoken one, when really it is the job of the captain to be picking the team, Pietersen should have had his way.

KP was potentially one of the better captains in my view, as he has the winners attitude instead of the typical English, "Well played chap!" way of going about their business.

I believe someone of Botham's calibre would be a better coach of the England team, as he would immediately have the respect of all involved in cricket, and he in my view has a more educated input if it is needed, and would more than likely get on better with Pietersen to take the team forward.

Everyone seems to believe that Pietersen's ego and lack of respect for Moores was a big reason for this. Yes, the captain and players must have respect for the coach, but in all honesty, what has Moores done to warrant the respect of the players?

He has coached Sussex to the championship in 2003, but he hasn't felt the intensity, pressures, and expectations of international cricket before. This is why I believe that someone who has had the experience of the international game should have taken over. Sky Sports seem to be bursting at the seams with pundits that were former players, who seem to think they know who should and shouldn't be playing, so why not put them to the test.

However, not all the criticism should be heaped on Moores or Pietersen. I do think the the Schofield Report messed the whole situation up, by relieving David Graveney of his position, and having Geoff Miller, Moores, Ashley Giles, and James Whittaker instead.

Well, all-in-all, the whole situation seems to have left English cricket in a complete mess. Things have to go smoothly in the two series against the West Indies for there to be any chance to challenge the Aussies in the summer.

Even though they themselves seem to be in a mini-crisis through the loss of key players, they are still good enough and willing enough to give a troubled England side a good hiding with the likes of Clarke, Ponting, Hussey, and Johnson still going strong.

Hopefully a little bit of consistency can be established and also an understanding in the way things are run in the ECB. A change is due, and the chance seems to have gone along with Pietersen.