And so it is that the England cricket team, with a tour of the West Indies imminent and the Ashes just six months away, find themselves without either coach or captain. The departure of both Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores was the only possible outcome once it became clear that relations had broken down irretrievably. When Pietersen's demand, that the former captain Michael Vaughan be restored to the squad for the West Indies, was resisted by Moores, the cracks between the two, which had been apparent for some time, opened into a fissure.

For either one to have gone, leaving the other in situ, was impossible. Pietersen could not have survived the demise of Moores because the captain cannot be permitted a veto over the coach. Moores was doomed the moment that Pietersen resigned because the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could not take the risk that Pietersen, the best batsman in the team by a distance, might refuse to play. And so, at the ECB emergency meeting on Tuesday night it was agreed that both men should be removed from their posts.

Both men should take a portion of the blame for what the former England captain Graham Gooch has described as “an unholy mess”. Moores's aggressive style of management made no concession to the notoriously headstrong Pietersen. But the captain, for his part, cannot issue an ultimatum to his employers at the first sign of disagreement, especially when he does not have the full backing of his own players.

The real culprits, however, are those in the ECB who made both appointments. This sorry state of affairs was eminently predictable and, indeed, the cricket correspondent of this newspaper wrote of Pietersen's appointment in August 2008 that it would all end in tears - the only open question was when.

It has to be said that Pietersen could start a fight in an empty room. He left South Africa in protest at the quota system for the national team after falling out with the hierarchy there. He left Nottinghamshire for Hampshire after an unimpressed team-mate emptied the contents of his kit bag over the dressing room balcony. The case for Pietersen as captain was simply that, as the most gifted player, he was certain of his place in the team. Ian Botham is the obvious example of the great player for whom the captaincy was a burden. The captain has to command the respect of the team as a man and not just as a player. It was a poor appointment in the first place.

So, in its way, was that of Moores. No sooner had Duncan Fletcher resigned as England coach than Moores was unveiled as his successor. Less haste might have revealed better-qualified candidates in the field. Moores had a successful track record in county cricket but no experience at all of Test cricket, something which it is said the players held against him. Moores also had an unfortunate tendency to suppose that ebullient team talks and management platitudes were a substitute for experience.

The England team leave for the West Indies on January 21. Andrew Strauss has been appointed as captain for the tour. As someone who is not a member of the one-day team, his appointment creates a new problem. A new coach, as well as a permanent captain, will also be needed. This time the ECB needs to get it right.