Pietersen poised for dual captaincy?

The colourful Hampshire batsman is expected to be unveiled as the captain of both sides at lunchtime following a dramatic day when Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood resigned from their posts.

Vaughan stepped aside after becoming England's most successful Test captain ever with 26 victories during his five-year reign while Collingwood has given up responsibility for the one-day side to try and focus on his own form once again.

It has left England with a leadership vacuum they are expected to solve by giving the joint role to nearly the only player who is guaranteed to be a key member of both teams in the coming years - 28-year-old Pietersen.

Other candidates like Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Kent's Rob Key will have been discussed during a lengthy meeting of the selectors on Sunday at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, but Pietersen remains the likely candidate.

Andrew Flintoff has also already admitted he does not want another chance at leading the side having just returned from a lengthy injury spell on the sidelines, prompting bookmakers William Hill to stop taking bets on Pietersen.

Collingwood would perhaps also have been considered had he not taken the decision to also step aside, believing the pressures of captaining the one-day side had contributed to his bad run in Test cricket when he went 25 innings without scoring a century before hitting a determined 135 at Edgbaston on Friday.

"It's something I've been thinking about for some time and really it was Thursday night, the night before I made the century believe it or not, and that's when I told the wife and I knew it was time to go," revealed Collingwood.

"It was a tough decision to make because captaining your country is obviously a massive honour and it's something you can't really explain to other people when you lead that team out onto the field. "The thing I've wanted to do all my career is play for England, play in Test matches, play in all forms of the game and I just feel the captaincy was taking away that mental energy and what you need to play at the highest level. Playing all three forms of the game is tough enough without the captaincy burden as well."