Kevin Pietersen's decision to stand down as captain so soon after taking up the reins from Michael Vaughan could not have come at a worse time for England.

The team leave for their four-Test tour of the West Indies in two weeks giving the England and Wales Cricket Board little time to find a replacement for Pietersen.

Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook will immediately be named as favourites to take over but they will have a tough job.

The Ashes are on the horizon and, with Australia having lost their last two series against India and South Africa, there was every chance of a victorious summer.

Now the split in the team appears a massive one as the ECB look to have sided with coach Peter Moores over Pietersen.

As revealed in Standard Sport yesterday, Pietersen's public dispute with Moores has so angered some heads of the game that there was a feeling England might be better off with a new top management team — and the South African-born batsman has made the decision for them.

Moores had looked doomed for some time yet it is now Pietersen who is reported to have gone just five months after he took over from Vaughan and was put in command of both the Test and one-day teams despite no experience of leadership.

The ECB's executive board held a telephone conference last night following an initial briefing from managing director Hugh Morris.

He was charged this week with finding out the depth of the disagreement between Pietersen and Moores and establishing which of them enjoys most support in the dressing room.

It now seems that Pietersen did not have the backing of all the players over his stance against Moores, and members of the backroom staff remain loyal to the coach.

The biggest concern was the public nature of an explosive dispute. Problems between Pietersen and Moores have been simmering since the day the new captain was appointed last August.

But they became common knowledge last week following England's decision to omit former skipper Vaughan from the squad to tour the West Indies.

Pietersen, it is believed, was unhappy at the length of time taken by the game's top brass over the situation and made friends known of his decision to walk from the job before he returned home from a safari holiday this morning.

Pietersen's own position in the England team must also be uncertain as it now seems virtually impossible for former captain and coach to work together again.

Yet he remains the country's best batsmen in both forms of cricket and Moore's has not enjoyed much success since taking over. England have won only three of seven Test series since he replaced Duncan Fletcher in April 2007.

Kent's South African coach, Graham Ford, will be a leading candidate if Moores is also replaced.
Ford is currently at his cricket academy near Durban from where he said no discussions had taken place with the ECB over the coaching job.

But Ford admitted he would be interested in replacing Moores if the coach was axed, saying: “I would certainly consider it. I have been within the system with Kent for the past four years and I feel part of it so, yes, it is something that would interest me.”