Pietersen was not the right man to lead England, says former coach David Lloyd
Rocky partnership: England's Kevin Pietersen with coach Peter Moores in August 2008. PIC/AFP
Pietersen was not the right man to lead England, says former coach David Lloyd
Former England coach David Lloyd reckons Kevin Pietersen was not the right man to lead England in the first place.
English cricket is in the doldrums with the departure of Pietersen as captain and Peter Moores' sacking as coach.
Writing in his Sky Sports blog, the former England batsman turned commentator said, "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."
Lloyd was England's coach before Duncan Fletcher stepped in and forged a fine relationship with Nasser Hussain to usher in a golden era for English cricket.
Elaborating on the several star players who got the captaincy, Lloyd wrote: "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!
Although Andrew Strauss is the new captain, Lloyd backed Michael Vaughan to regain the captaincy. Vaughan led England to their 2005 Ashes triumph which came after an 18-year drought.
Pietersen was part of the batting lot when England won the Ashes in 2005, the last time the Australians toured the United Kingdom for a Test series.
Subsequently, England toured Australia in 2006-07 and lost badly.
Lloyd was sad to see Moores depart. "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," said Lloyd.
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