Pietersen admits he stayed on holiday too long

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Former England captain Nasser Hussain criticised the batsman for not returning as the storm worsened, claiming: "You can't just sit on safari in Africa and issue ultimatums."

And last night Pietersen conceded he should have flown back after his request to have Michael Vaughan restored to the Test squad for the West Indies tour was turned down.

"In hindsight maybe I should have come back when the Michael Vaughan story broke," admitted Pietersen.

However, the deposed skipper has denied that he was making demands from South Africa and said he had put his side of the story to Hussain.

"I totally understand Nasser's comments and I have spoken to him," said Pietersen. "I didn't ring him up to hassle him or correct him. I just explained my situation."

Pietersen told England chiefs that either Moores was axed or he would quit as captain - a stance which led to both losing their jobs last Wednesday - but maintains that he went through the correct channels to make his case.

"Nasser was quite taken aback to know I had actually had a number of face-to-face meetings with the ECB," added Pietersen. "I think everybody probably thought I was holding a pistol to the ECB's head.

"It wasn't like I was stating 'I want this, I want that, I need this, I want that'. I had five or six meetings with the Board and I knew my next meeting was going to be the day I got back.

"Something was leaked, I don't know who by, I would love to find that person."