Nasser Hussain says Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores are sending out all the wrong signals.
KP will be only winner if matter is not resolved
Nasser Hussain believes Peter Moores will have no choice but to stand down as England coach if he cannot resolve his problems with captain Kevin Pietersen.
Former skipper Hussain says the team's performance will be undermined if the pair cannot patch up their differences on a number of issues.
Earlier this week reports claimed Pietersen had asked to meet England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke after Michael Vaughan was not selected for the upcoming Test tour to the West Indies.
And unless the matter is resolved quickly, Sky Sports pundit Hussain fears the ramifications could last long into the summer.
"It's absolutely not ideal in an Ashes year for the public to know the captain and the coach are not gelling, not getting on but more importantly the players now know," he told Sky Sports News.
Personality clash
"There have been some doubts in the last year or so over whether Pietersen and Moores clash in terms of personalities - they are two entirely different people.
"Pietersen is outgoing, single-minded; Moores is much more measured, diplomatic. So there is a personality clash there but now the players know that and at any meeting, whether it be before the Ashes or before the West Indies, when Moores speaks the players will be thinking 'KP doesn't buy into this, or KP thinks this is a load of rubbish. Who are we going to listen to?'
"I don't think a team can function when a coach and captain don't agree and that's why I'm very cross at whoever has leaked this story out. If there is a problem, it can be solved.
"Pietersen, in the heat of the moment, might have said 'I want a meeting. I'm not getting on with Moores'. The ECB's managing director Hugh Morris sits down and asks Pietersen about his problem and you sort it out. You bash some heads together and they work together.
"But we've gone past that stage now as it's in the public domain and the players know these two aren't getting on. That is a worry."
Player power
Moores has won eight of his 22 Tests in charge so far but seven of those successes have come against New Zealand and the West Indies - teams ranked below England in the Test rankings.
The other came this summer at the Oval when England overcame South Africa, but the series was already lost - statistics Hussain feels are not strong enough to save Moores' skin.
"If you are asking me who is more important, Kevin Pietersen or Peter Moores, then there is only one winner and that's Kevin Pietersen; that's what he knows and that's why he's probably flexing his muscles," he said.
"Somehow Hugh Morris has to calm this situation down otherwise it looks like Moores might have to go. I feel sorry for the bloke because he deserves time and if he doesn't do well then the ECB make the decision."
Shaun Custis of
The Sun added: "This shows that the rise of player power is everywhere now. Pietersen is playing an interesting game because if he does get Moores to go then that shows the captain is all-powerful.
"The captain has always been more powerful in cricket, than say, in football, but what sort of example is this setting?"
