MH, Ibet you thought Greg Rudsetski and Zola Budd were English too...

Due to the influx of foreign cricketers it is very difficult to find a satisfactory candidate for the captains job either of the test team or the one day team.
As different batting abilities are required for each team we should either have seperate captains or use some common sense for a change and pick a bowler or wicket keeper as captain.
Whoever they choose, and I would suggest Read would be the best bet, I would also suggest that Stuart Broad should be made vice captain as training for the eventual job as captain.

Larry Hotchkiss

Ian H, your comments are crass! Pieterson qualifies due to one or other of his parents being born in England. If South Africa didn't apply this criteria, they would not be able to compete at all as all of their white players are related to people from other countries.

MH

I'll do it. I led Caythorpe 4th XI from Div R of the South Notts League to Div L in four years, surely makes me more successful and qualified than the other candidates. And I'm English! Come to think of it I'd better not mention the bit about being English as it would rule me out and upset the balance of the team.

Having a South African as captain of England is the only logical conclusion of the ECB's craven betrayal of young English and Welsh cricketers by allowing the counties to fill their sides with foreign players and over the hill English ones(Leicestershire and Northants are a particularly bad joke).In three or four years time the England team will be a glorified South African B team anyway so appointing a South African now also seems logical. Next summer will be Englands last realistic crack at the Aussies before English cricket descends back to the mediocrity of fifteen years ago, therefore Pieteren with his in your face arrogance and confidence is a sensible choice, notwithstanding the fact he isn't English. As we currently have four in the side this summer who are South African or Australian this clearly doesn't make much difference. English cricket is dying from the bottom up. Getting rid of the counties and the decaying old corses that run them and staff them is the only way to begin the reversal.

Darren Pattison. the only logical choice ,if you think about it.

Not Pietersen - not rounded or selfless enough to lead others as was demonstrated by the shot that he attempted to get his ton with at Edgbaston.
Cook is the player with the 'General's baton in his knapsack' for me and give him the team he deserves. Get rid of Ambrose - average behind the stumps and one-dimensional (and poor) with the Bat. Reid has proved too fragile so go for Mustard.
Sort out the bowling too please. Sidebottom is a bit of a one trick pony with swing. Alo Monty is a poor fielder, poorbat and not that great a spinner - I'd have Swann every time. Get Jones back in too - he's taking wickets and in form, so now please. And if they ever pick Pattinson again I will never watch England ever again.
Also get test cricket back on terrestrial TV. It will never have the buzz that the 05 ashes did if it stays on Sky as not all the country will see it. (Did Bliar not have a manifesto commitment before 97 to get all home nation internationals for Cricket, football and Rugby on terrestrial TV ot did I just dream that?)
Anyway - now's the time to shake up the team - get some (younger) form players in and really start to build for the ashes - now that this rubber is lost, this is the ideal time to give them a test match with no pressure if they lose.

There is only one man equiped with the skills and ability to lead the England test team at present and he has just resigned the job. The best captain since Mike Brearley and maybe even better than him. The selectors have made his job impossible. Will they do the right thing and appoint a stop-gap until Michael has had a rest and chance to recover from the rediculous pressure he has been asked to bare and apologies to him and give him the team he wants (including Simon Jones!) to beat Australia next year. I doubt it, but I also doubt very much we can beat the Australian's without his captaincy. Ricky Ponting must be a delighted man this morning.

Read from notts Top of division one.Stop worrying about a wicketkeeper batsman because none of them have done it with the bat anyway and boy have they been @#$% behind the stumps. The dropped catches and extras more than make up for anything any of them have done with the bat.Read is the best gloveman in the world at the moment so it should be a no brainer to pick him lets go back to specialists for the job.He is also a good skipper and all other options don,t appear to be much use.Strauss shouldn,t even be in the side his battings rubbish.Pietersen no you need a team player he,s not and he,s same as Strauss not even English.Flintoff don,t make me laugh he,s a sicknote waiting to happen so soft for a big lad really a bit of a girl.He can,t be relied on to score runs or take wickets he,s not the complete article as an all rounder and not very disciplined either.

Kevin Pieterson? get otta here!! Ricky Pontings Aussies must be rubbing their hands
in glee,when you appoiont a new captain you dont go back so where DO you go,give Alistair Cook a go,maybe Freddie as vice to help out but whatever is done has to be
done sooner rather then later 'cos (watch my lips) THE AUSSIES ARE COMING!!

Bit worried it could turn into a Brian Lara style situation if Pietersen gets it, but I hope he proves me wrong. I'm 90% sure it will be him because his face will fit with the pr & money creatures at the ECB. A lot of it's about image these days sadly.

It's not just the PR & tactics though, whoever gets the job will also need good sociology skills. For me it's key to realise that in order to get the best out of every individual the captain has to learn and appreciate their character and perspective, then treat them accordingly. To succeed as a captain you have to sacrifice certain areas of your own personality, which is maybe why some big name's have failed in the role over the years.

As was stated in another post on here--Pietersen has the leadership qualities of a Kamikaze pilot! bring in Key good bat & calm steady county captain!

Why not robert key,he seems to be doing a good job at kent.

What about a real outsider for the future. Alastair Cook. Certainly merits his place in the side and has outstanding ability to hold the batting together in a crisis.

Leave Kevin to do what he does best, bring back Bumble

Ha Ha Pieterson as England captain go for it I say....With your UN sqad you may as well choose Madleson as your team manager as well

Laughing SA supporter

It seems as if Vaughan resigned because he just has had enough, which is no surprise given the pressures of the job. What strikes me is that there is no strong candidate for the job, or even a good candidate- those who might be are out of form, and those who are in form (Pietersen? anyone else?) don't need the pressure. I suppose it ought to be Strauss but even his form is dodgy and shallow. An embarrassment of no riches at all. Pietersen to do it badly, probably, and Vaughan to come back in 12 months?

Flintoff is injury prone - he was definetly out of it by the late afternoon yesterday.

Pietersen - is England's 'best player', top batsman? Didn't he also have a few bad hair innings since this series and before? Is it fair to load captaincy on a top batsman in a national side? Test cricket versus ODI? Big difference!

Has anyone thought of the pressure on these captains espcially where the administrators, coaches and managers are concerned, then there's the sqauds and the day's other 10 players = what if they have ideas of who it should or could be - someone they feel they could look up to, a good leader who also has the respect and support from team members and KNOWS they will be there for him and do their best during any game? A captain who respects and supports his players and stand by them
when needed? Personalities?

My suggestion - Andrew Strauss has done it before when Michael and Freddie were injured - his position doesn't carry the same pressure of that of Pietersen's.

The latter should concentrate on being the best batsman and good relief bowler - crowd
thriller to boot! Captaincy will take his mind off of what he's there to do.