Thetownend.com

Press conference at 1 O'Clock.

May I state in advance, that if KP gets anywhere near the captaincy, I will track down whoever is responsible and demonstrate my switch shot on their head.

It's the correct decision if he's going.

God knows how they will select a new captain... Collingwood is the only obvious choice, maybe that's why he's back from, erm being dropped!

Agnew reckons Key's got a shot.

That would be a truly awesome curveball. Still want Strauss for a year or two though.

It'll be KP.

Strauss or Cook

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12046_3905049,00.html

Not sure if that is the right choice, not for me anyway.

Pietersen can't even control his own cricketing game!

Pietersen? Way to reward his brilliant team focused performance. God I hope they're wrong.

What about Gooch or Gower?

But then again Sky Sports aren't exactly the most accurate news agency in the world.

It's the equivialant of making Wayne Rooney captain, well kind of... Okay not so much so but Pietersen is a crowd favourite, he loves playing for England but is he leader material?

 I recall the 66 series v Windies, when Colin Cowdrey was failing as captain, we'd gone 3-0 down and Brian Close was brought back.  Close was the exact opposite of MCC, we won that test....followed it up by seeing off India and Palistan, yet Close was dropped for the next winter tour to WI.

  He didn't reappear for another 10 years, when in his 40's he came back to face Roberts Holding etc in their pomp...no helmet he just used to let the short ball hit him. It was likem something from Rome...I worried for his life.

Yep, he's gone.

Sounds permanent. Captaincy gone, not retiring from international cricket.

Out of the squad?

No squad announced yet, Vaughan's getting teary and doing an Oscar speech.

Taking a break from the game, not playing at the Oval, finish season with Yorkshire.

Live feed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7539433.stm

its on SSN as well.

No announcement on replacement or squad.

Ah well. It was time for him to go, he had a pretty good record overall and won us the Ashes of course. If it is KP to take over then it has to be said that he is one of the most dedicated and hardest working players in the team, and hopefully can inspire the players in much the same way as Ponting does for Australia. Speaking of KP, I thought it was a bit of a joke to see Aggers getting stuck in to KP for getting out on 94, when it was the batting up to 94 that made the 3rd test a contest in the first place. Hey ho.

Colly stepped down as one day captain.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Oh fuck, this is leading to KP is both forms of the game.

Have they announced the captaincy yet?

Tomorrow with 4th test squad

KP's desire to play in the IPL may turn out to be a significant factor in the decision making process?

I don't think having Pietersen as captain would be a good thing as his batting would suffer.

fair play to Vaughan though.

I thought that was a very genuine press conference he did there. It is absolutely the right time, and fair play for having the courage to do it now. He will go down as a great England captain so he can hold his head up high. These rumours of an England dressing room clique have been around since after the Ashes win. Giles should go too and then we have a hope of finally getting a clean slate.

As regards Colly, bit more suprised and gutted about that one. He leads by example and he's mentally tough. But he's got a real problem with that NZ run out. It showed a real lack of judgement and as he's now banned for 3 more games, someone else might as well do both which is how it should be really.

Theres no way Id pick Strauss because his place shouldnt be safe either. Not enough runs.

If it was Key that would be mental. Its going to be interesting because that would be old v new. Cricket is moving into the football league in terms of money and players like Pietersen and Flintoff do have big ego's. KP needs to wind his neck in a bit because he is becomming a bit of a problem, and he should fucking shut up about the fucking crappy franchise means nothing - IPL!

Its a tough time all round, but its absolutely necessary. To be honest, I dont have a clue who should be captain.

He has done a great job as skipper,but think it was time to go and as the selectors weren't prepared to give him the chop he's had to fall on his sword and fair play to the bloke.Wish him all the best and just hope he can regain some of the form he's showed in the past.Still remember the way he got stuck into the Aussies in 02/03,he was amazing.

When Nas stood down there was a obvious replacement,but at the moment there isn't any player who stands out as captain material for various reasons.KP and Fred could/would struggle doing it,Cook is too young and the others just aren't right,Strauss is the only one who'd get my vote at the moment.I'd be shocked if Key came in as he hasn't had a look in with the squad for ages,let alone to come in and captain.Interesting times.

I'll cry if it's KP. That would be our only decent batsman going crap. Great.

 Not all players turn crap on being made captain...Graham Gooch, got better.

 I think it'l be KP.

To be fair to KP i can see him doing well. He's that Graham Smith type captain we need.

It'll be Strauss for test captain, possibly interim for the final test against SA, KP for the ODI's

don't think KP's right for the captaincy but then i couldn't tell you who is - cook would be a future option but he's pretty quiet and shy on the field.

vaughan's press conference was very honest and you could see how much the captaincy meant to him but it was definitely the right decision - we're at serious risk of becoming stale after some improvement since '05. the biggest problem is that none of our test cricketers play county cricket, so none have the experience to be captain!

collingwood's decision is fucking bizarre though

From what i read on the BBCSport website it's because he's banned for the next 3 ODI's so he would be unable to fulfill his duty as Captain.

out of interest, was vaughan a regular captain for yorkshire before playing for england??

Its a bit weird trying to pick a captain, because apart from monty, kp and freddy none are really assured of their place. I dont think you can give it to kp, i just dont trust him. He's a great batsman, i just dont think hes proper captain material, at least not yet. Strauss would get my vote

Edit -  one thing kp has in his favour is his ability to play both forms of the game to the highest level, unlike strauss

I'm glad that Vaughan has done the sensible and honourable thing today.It really was the only
course to take and seeing the clips of the press conference,he also knew deep down that he
had to resign and move on.

He's been a very good captain with the Ashes win and the series win in the Carribean, being the
highlights for me.He also had the respect of his players and opponents.

dont forget the south africa series win. 2004/2005 we were probably the best test team in the world

I would say from the past 18 months that more than those 3 have been assured their place in the team.

Personally I'm disappointed Vaughan has gone as i still think there are some runs left in him and he's a more than useful skipper, but pressure has proved too much and understand the reasoning. However the scrutiny has been placed at his batting and not the fact that he has had a team of underachievers to marshall since 2005. I'd stick KP as captain, Strauss i don't think would be the right move because in 6 months time after a hypothetical poor run of form he's place could be questioned (even now?). The squad is pretty poor for captains otherwise, so KP for both Tests and ODIs - he maybe selfish but when the shit hits the fan most of the time is KP who pulls out a good score to give us some respectability or more.

Thinking about it, KP does seem the right man.

He's the only player that's really guaranteed a place in both the one-day and test teams. He's got a real determination and loves playing for England. I think his attacking nature would show through his tactics and he's the perfect man to lead by example. Ok, he might not look like the best candidate from a leadership or experience point of view, but that's when you'd look to the senior pro's like Strauss and Collingwood to help out. Most of all though, I think he's got the right mindset to change the way England play. He could be for England what Ponting is for Australia.

Aggers has changed his tune as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/08/lack_of_runs_costs_emotional_v.shtml

7 minutes left, its inevitably Pietersen, but I'm clinging to the hope that it isn't.

It's official. This is going to be brilliant or terrible. I hope its not the one I'm expecting.

Good stuff 8)

On the bright side, Pietersen's appointment makes me think that there's going to be some fairly sweeping team changes as he had the advantage over the others over being an automatic selection.

Ah well, if you can't beat the Saffas, join them.

You have to hope that Pieterson will listen to advice from the likes of Strauss and others.
Having heard Geoff Miller prior to the Headingley test,with regards to the Pattinson selection
and since then,he doesn't come accross at someone with any great gravitas.I'd have preferred
to have seen Graveney stay as Chairman,anyone know why he was ousted?

i just think graveney's time had come to an end and people felt he was becoming soft

Brave move,which on reflection i agree with.Might as well have arguably the best player captain the side as anyone else.Trouble is history has shown it doesn't usually work,but hey with the Ashes not till next year there is time for KP to bed in and see how he gets on with it.

Let's see how he goes. I just hope his batting doesn't go to pot like most England captains of the past have.

It can only possibly go downhill from the switch-hit no?

well, there was this chap called ricky ponting

and another called mahela jayawardene

And another called Ian Botham