I don't buy into the view that Kevin Pietersen's resignation as England captain is a disaster for the Ashes.

There's no doubt Pietersen is England's star player, this guy is world class, but should he be skipper?

I've got a very, very good friend who was an officer in the infantry and he would say most definitely, and I'm talking about life and death here and not a game of cricket, that your star man is not your leader. Leave him as your star man.

Pietersen: back in ranks?

I would concur with that. We had Andrew Flintoff, who was a national treasure, as captain - that wasn't the way to go. The same should have been true of Brian Lara, Ian Botham and Geoffrey Boycott - don't put them anywhere near the captaincy, just let the genius come out.

With such a massive ego, Pietersen was never going to be a clear thinker, or decision maker. He actually said at the time he was appointed that if it doesn't work out, he would just resign and go back to the ranks!

Vaughan again

What I find incredible is that this whole business has been conducted from South Africa; I hear that Pietersen is abroad on safari, so you have to ask is there someone this side instigating it all?

Is there somebody else behind all of this? Is somebody unhappy with Moores and uneasy with Pietersen as captain?

We are not in the inner sanctum of the dressing room, but personally I'm disappointed to see Moores go. He's had a terrific track record and two years is no time at all; I did that job for three-and-a-half years and didn't feel I was getting my feet under the table.

The ECB officials spoke very highly of him, but it is clear his position may now have become untenable.

I'm still catching my breath but it could be that Andy Flower takes over from Moores in the interim; he knows the system and the players and he's a thoroughly good man.

And Andrew Strauss, the only other candidate when Pietersen was appointed, could take over as Test captain, but that raises a heap of questions not least because he is not in the one-day side.

I've said in the past that it's not ideal to have two different captains but what can you do when there is no obvious candidate to do both jobs? There is one guy in the background with a steady hand right at the minute who could step in - Michael Vaughan.

I should think his future is being discussed because if you want someone to calm things down then he could be the man. I know he has not been playing but he was a wonderful captain and knows what it is like to win the Ashes.

Respect key

In contrast, I've said privately that I don't think this team is exactly right. I've had it confirmed by an insider that there is not the same togetherness as the 2005 Ashes winning team for one reason or another.

I go back to my time when I worked with two captains, who were exceptional people: Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart. I knew my place and it was behind them. A coach should prepare the team to enable them to play at their absolute best and then leave it to them.

It's pretty clear Pietersen and Moores have not been getting on, but that should not be an issue as there have been plenty of players over the years who have not spoken to players! Apparently, on one tour to South Africa Duncan Fletcher did not speak to two players at all!

The key to a successful partnership is to have a challenge between the captain and coach, a mutual respect. Look at Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain. They challenged each other rather than just have 'yes sir, yes sir, three bags full sir'.

In other news...

News has reached me that the Brigadier got very thirsty during the New Year's festivities and stayed in the Hesketh longer than he should have.

He was taken home, promptly fell out of the taxi and was swiftly dispatched to the shed by Lady Carr for six hours.

After inadvertedly falling over the Qualcast 400, he tripped over Graham and Jimmy the garden gnomes before coming to rest on the summer lilo.

He has been under house arrest (or should that be shed arrest?) ever since, although he was out on probation on Monday evening - but under the strict supervision of Lady Carr...

Bumble answers your questions...

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Hi Bumble, Peter Seal here from Rawtenstall cricket club. I saw on the Lancashire League website that you have been made a life member at Accrington cc. Please can I congratulate you on this great honour, and also congratulate you and your team mates pipping us to the title! My question - what do you think our league and other leagues should do about professionals? Surely our league should employ home grown pros like myself? Peter Seal

BUMBLE REPLIES: Hi Pete, good to hear from you again. I thoroughly enjoyed my league experience last season, going back to my roots and meeting up with people I hadn't seen for a long, long time. But I did find that paying a professional in the Lancashire League is unsustainable. There are so many clubs on the brink. Accrington won the cup and the league with a very modest outlay, but we still only broke even. We had a very modest professional, but the money paid to him drained the club. I did suggest that there should be a moratorium in the league for two years without professionals to allow clubs to get back on their feet. The days have gone of clubs having a great professional and filling the grounds. It doesn't happy any more.

Anyway, I'd like to carry on this year but I think Dibendra Singh Ormerod might have different ideas.

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