Kevin Pietersen confirmed as captain

[JamesW]

Pietersen presented as captain today at press conference at 1.00

[bristolian]

It was the only decision to be made. Vaughan's lack of runs meant that he would surely have been dropped so he fell on his sword and resigned the captaincy. Given that he is by a country mile the best player in the country he had to be given the job (and is the only bloke who is a shoe-in for the Test- and one-day squads). He is brash, egocentric and instinctive, yet the other side of the coin is that he could be courageous and challenging. I hope he will ruffle a few feathers in one sense- I think the set-up has become a bit stale and clearly a change was needed. With the Ashes in mind, he will be the man!!!

[colonel]

God help us all now that Figjam has the job...

FIGJAM- Fuck I'm Good, Just Ask Me.

[docco]

The sad thing is, Pietersen has zero captancy experiance, in true English cricket fashion as usual there is no succession planning ! Vaughan is 33 going on 34 (Dam so im I too!) meaning at best he would have hung around for the ashes next year, then taking his viking vote all the way to Greenland and retired honerably, the fact he appears not able to hold a bat up straight these days has added to his swift demise.

I would have loved to have seen Cook made a vice captain or Bell sometime ago and let them get a real feel for the Job, Austrailia are doing it with Michael Clarke and India with Dhoni, as usual we miss every trick in the book, I just worry that the "box Office" as he is known willl he le?t his ego get in the way and he will either be a shite captain or become a medicore batsman,

Sorry for the rant but we always miss a trick, personally I would have given it to Flintoff and shown that someone can be forgiven for a mistake, he is Englands best player and would lead by example, other than that there really are no other candidates and as for Rob Key I cant believe his name was even mentioned in the same sentace as the others

Right rant over

[diplodocus]

problem is that you need a captain who is guaranteed a place.

this causes issues for Bell, Strauss and collingwood on form and for Freddie on injuries

Cook is a good option long term - mature and driven, but is too young I feel at this stage, KP was the only choice and is our best player by some distance, not Freddie who has only ever taken 5 wickets twice in his test career and has a batting average lower than Broad

[Trumpton]

I think the selectors have made a big mistake by appointing KP as Captain. Yes, he's the best batsmen in the England side, but that doesn't mean he'll be the best Captain.

Personally I would have gone for Cook (Captain Cook - ho-ho). Yes he's a bit on the young side, but I feel that he's the future.

Not Flintoff - he was Captain when England suffered their worst ever series defeat against the Australians, 5-0 in 2006-07. Also, he's had too many injuries and I think he's days as a player are coming to an end.

[diplodocus]

when on form all three deserve their place, but both Bell and Strauss have been dropped in that last couple of years and Colly was probably one innings away from being dropped this time around

Bell drives me mad, he has the best technical ability in the team but is always losing concentration and gets out for 50-80, which is great for your average but is never going to win any matches. I think i'm right in saying that Bell has never scored a 100 withiout another person in the side also scoring one, which to me suggests a dodgy temprement, add the pressure of captaincy and he'd have a problem