English cricket looks like having to decide between keeping Kevin Pietersen as captain and Peter Moores as coach after the star batsman called for an end to their “unhealthy” relationship.

The News of the World — the Sunday tabloid in which Pietersen has a column — said there appeared to be “little prospect” of the pair working together on the forthcoming tour of the West Indies, during which England will want to gather momentum ahead of their bid to reclaim the Ashes. The newspaper said that there had been a “complete breakdown in what was an already fraught relationship” and that attempts by the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Hugh Morris, to broker a peace deal between Pietersen and Moores had no chance of success. Pietersen, who cut short a holiday in South Africa to talk to Morris on Saturday, stopped short of calling for Moores’ sacking. But the 28-year-old told the newspaper: “This situation is not healthy. We have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly to the West Indies. “Everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team.” Contrary to earlier reports, the News of the World said the exclusion of former England captain Michael Vaughan from the West Indies squad was not the cause of Pietersen’s bust-up with Moores. It insisted that the pair had fallen out long before the tour party was announced. Pietersen took over as captain following Vaughan’s tearful resignation during August’s home series defeat by South Africa. He won widespread admiration for the way he recently led England, who lost the series 1-0, back to India for a two-Test tour that was nearly abandoned because of the Mumbai terror attacks. Moores is on a one-year rolling contract and an attempt to sack him could cost the cricket board as much as £250000 and leave it scrambling to find a new coach before England arrive in the Caribbean on January 21 for a four-Test tour. But “a dressing-room source” told the News of the World: “There is no way Pietersen and Moores can work together; they’re just too far apart.” In Moores’ 22 Tests as coach, England have won eight, lost six and drawn eight. But seven of those victories came against the lower-rated New Zealand and the West Indies. The win over South Africa, in Pietersen’s first match as captain, took place only after the series had been lost.

Julian Guyer, Sapa-AFP

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.