England's power struggle 'threatens Ashes bid'
Will coach Peter Moores be forced to pack his England bags?
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Tuesday, 06, Jan 2009 10:25
There is a real danger that the power struggle between England coach Peter Moores and captain Kevin Pietersen could derail the bid to win back the Ashes if it is not resolved quickly.
The problems between Moores and Pietersen apparently hark back to before the series against India.
Although KP won his first Test in charge against South Africa, things were thrown together so hastily due to the departure of Michael Vaughan that the clash of personalities that was to come between coach and captain had not been seen or dealt with.
Moores has declined to comment so far while Pietersen has allegedly threatened to stand down as captain unless Moores comes around to the skipper's way of thinking or is dismissed.
Both sides are firmly entrenched, then, and on the face of it such a petulant rift does not seem like cricket.
However, closer examination suggests that that this argument is exactly that.
This situation is somewhat unique to cricket, as opposed to other team sports. Test cricket lasts five days and the captain will make more decisions than the coach during that time - unlike the manager's role in football or rugby.
In cricket's past the captain was perceived as the leader and only recently has the coach's role become more prominent, thanks to gurus such as Bob Woolmer and Duncan Fletcher (Woolmer once tried to use radio to communicate with his captain on the field and therefore have more of an influence, but the ICC barred this practice).
Moores is another of these 'gurus', appointed to replace Fletcher following a successful time in charge of Sussex and a stint as director of the National Cricket Centre.
Pietersen's wish to move Moores into the background would seem to be something of an anachronism as cricket tries to regenerate itself for the 21st century with inventions like Twenty20.
But it is possibly such formats, where players can now earn thousands of pounds more than their predecessors, which have given rise to more player power. It is a combination of these factors, along with a clash of personalities between Moores and Pietersen, that has produced the rift in the England camp.
It is Pietersen's way, even before he was given a position with responsibility, to puff out his chest and say to his team-mates "follow me" and it is therefore only natural to him that now that he is captain he would expect to be followed.
Another factor not to be overlooked is Pietersen's natural attacking instinct, which must have been at odds with the way England took time out of the game when they had India reeling in the first Test in Chennai - only for Virender Sehwag to attack in the final hour of the fourth day and take the match away from England.
Former captains, like David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Ray Illingworth (who is also a former chairman of selectors) all believe Pietersen will win the argument with Moores, whether he is in the right or not, because he has a bigger personality. While this may be the case it is far more likely to be because he is by far and away England's best player have and therefore is less expendable than Moores.
Neither man is likely to stand down - Pietersen is using his position as leverage while Moores stands to collect £250,000 if he is sacked rather than resigns. Thus the ECB will be relied upon to resolve the situation.
They will certainly have to do it before the tour of the West Indies as this trip provides an inconsistent side with one of their few opportunities to prepare successfully for the Ashes series. England must go into that series with the same level of self belief, confidence and togetherness as they had in 2005 or they will not repeat the feat of that side.
Moores' position seems untenable, but the list of potential replacements is a short one.
Geoff Cook guided Durham to the County Championship last season and is a respected coach around the circuit but is unlikely to want the job.
Marytn Moxon helped revive Yorkshire last season, following a successful time at Durham, and is certainly a candidate but he lacks international experience.
Kent's Graham Ford is possibly the front-runner, but he was offered the chance to coach India in 2007 and turned it down. Ford coached South Africa to nine series wins in 11 played between 1999 and 2001 and also worked with Pietersen at Natal.
An outside bet could be Tom Moody, the former Worcestershire man who coached Sri Lanka for two years. Moody was in line to replace Fletcher in 2007 but instead decided to return to Australia for family reasons. Moody would certainly have the respect of Pietersen but could he be persuaded to plot the downfall of his fellow Australians this summer?
How the situation will be resolved is not certain but surely any peace accord between Pietersen and Moores will only be a temporary solution.
If England are to win back the Ashes they need to end the power struggle and make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Dominic Beaumont