KP-Moores fallout, blame it on Warne: Gooch

London:

Whatever be England's troubles blame it on Shane Warne, believes former skipper Graham Gooch as he singled out the Aussie spin wizard for passing on his dislike for coaches to Kevin Pietersen during their time together at English county side Hampshire.

Gooch feels Warne may have influenced Pietersen in some way in his dislike for coach Peter Moores, who faces the axe after falling out with the South African-born captain of the English team.

"Pietersen has had problems in teams before," Gooch told 'BBC Radio 5 Live'. "He left Notts under a little bit of a cloud after a falling-out in the dressing room.

"Unfortunately I think he has been influenced a little bit by Shane Warne at Hampshire. Warne was a great motivator as a player but, as one of the all-time icons of the game and after leading the Rajasthan Royals to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title last year, he doesn't really believe in coaching.

"He had his own run-ins with John Buchanan, the former Australia coach, and similarly maybe Pietersen doesn't like the style of Peter Moores' coaching," Gooch said. Moores' days though seem to be numbered, according to a number of former England cricketers.

However, many in the England dressing room believe Pietersen is seeking to blame the coach for his own tactical failings on the tour of India.

Gower feels Moores could be dismissed before England travel to the West Indies on January 21.

"I would not stake a huge sum of money (on Moores leading England to the West Indies)," Gower said.

"It's a bit of a mess but I've got a feeling Pietersen will get his way. Hugh Morris has an interesting task on his hands to mediate and if he can't then he's got not much time to start the process of working out who is going to coach England," said the former England skipper.

"I think the ECB are going to have to go with their captain because their captain is a mightily important figure in what happens this year and over the next few years.

"He is a fantastic player and has got the chance to be a good captain - he's still learning that trade and is far from being a great captain yet - and I think they are going to have to back their captain," said Gower.

"When Pietersen was appointed captain he asked Moores to stay in the background and organise nets while he got on the with the job of organising the team.

"If there is a character clash in terms of personalities, Pietersen is the bigger one and it's not the sort of situation where compromise is going to work. You can't have factions and you can't have divisions. It looks to me as though something has to happen and something will happen pretty soon."

Former England captains Bob Willis and Ray Illingworth echoed Gower's views.

"Pietersen wants to call the shots himself, saying when players are going to practise and how they are going to practise. I think he wants Moores out of the way. If he's not going to get that, I fear he will threaten to resign," said Willis.

Illingworth feels the coach and captain have to be on the same wavelength to make the team work.

"Moores is more of a stats man with a clipboard and pen, Pietersen is more of a flair man with his own instincts. It's a clash of personalities," said Illingworth.