Pietersen out as England captain

Kevin Pietersen has left his position as England captain in the wake of his rift with coach Peter Moores.

BBC Sport understands Moores will also leave his post but it is unclear if the duo have resigned or been sacked.

The England and Wales Cricket held an emergency meeting on Tuesday where it is believed an initial decision to sack the England pair was approved.

Further meetings have been held on Wednesday with a news conference now scheduled for 1800 GMT at The Oval.

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said he had been told by an ECB spokesman that Pietersen and Moores had not tendered their resignations.

PIETERSEN FACTFILE 27 June 1980: Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa 2001: Joins Notts from Natal hoping to qualify for England, after frustration with South African quota selection system Oct 2004: Quits Nottinghamshire and joins Hampshire Jan 2005: Plays for England in seven-match one-day series in South Africa Aug 2008: Replaces Michael Vaughan as Test captain and takes over as one-day skipper from Collingwood 3 Sept 2008: England complete a 4-0 thrashing of South Africa in one-dayers 26 Nov 2008: India take a 5-0 lead against England before Mumbai gunmen attacks force squad home 7 Dec 2008: Pietersen and England agree to resume Indian tour 10-23 Dec 2008: England lose and draw in two Tests in India 7 Jan 2009: Pietersen leaves his position as England captain

He told Radio 5 Live: "The ECB confirmed to me that no resignations have been offered or accepted.

"Further board meetings have taken place following the one last night, which I understand concluded with the agreement that both Pietersen and Moores would be sacked.

"Andrew Strauss is likely to be named as Pietersen's successor."

The ECB has yet to comment officially but will be under pressure to publicly act firmly as the chaos enveloping English cricket descends into farce, only six months before the start of the Ashes.

There is no suggestion Pietersen, who is flying back to England from South Africa on Wednesday, will stop playing for the England team following the bust-up.

BBC sports editor Mihir Bose told 5 Live: "Pietersen gave an ultimatum to the ECB saying 'sack the coach or I go'.

"The ECB has said 'we value you as captain but we don't take dictation from you'. So they accepted his ultimatum and he has suffered.

"Moores' position has become untenable so he goes.

"The managing director of the ECB Hugh Morris had been talking to various people and there was the feeling that Pietersen lost the support of members in the dressing room."

Pietersen admitted last week his relationship with Moores was strained as they clashed on how to move England forward.

The 28-year-old succeeded Michael Vaughan as England captain on 4 August and led the side to victory in his first Test match in charge against South Africa.

He followed that up with a 4-0 victory in the subsequent one-day international series against the tourists.

But Pietersen's England were crushed by 10 wickets in their Stanford Super Series Twenty20 showdown in Antigua at the start of November.

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Later that month, England were humbled 5-0 by India in a one-day series that was cut short by the attacks in Mumbai.

England left the sub-continent in the wake of the attacks, but returned to India for the two-Test series in December, losing one and drawing one.

As for Moores, he has lost four out of seven Test series since succeeding Duncan Fletcher as England coach 18 months ago.

And England travel to the Caribbean on 21 January for a Test and one-day series against the West Indies.

Former England captain Graham Gooch expressed his concern about the effect all this will have on the England team.

England problems self-inflicted - Bose

He told 5 Live: "What really worries me is what's going on in the dressing room.

"There are obviously some factions in the dressing room, some with Pietersen and some not, and that's not the sort of harmony you want before a big series in the West Indies and of course the Ashes.

"But it is an unholy mess at the moment."