Video: Pietersen returns to England | Video: Pietersen's press conference

Warne plays down England link | Pietersen tops Strauss' in-tray | Strauss has case for one-day captaincy | Why cricket conspires against Pietersen | Latest action from the Long Room at Lord's | Snape says Ashes will be mental battle | Miller insists he was unaware of ‘deep-rooted problems’

Whenever a coach or captain makes way, you see those little panels in newspapers listing four or five contenders for the vacant job. Yes, KP dipped his toe in the water jokingly, but usually the names put forward come from a mix of informed speculation and sheer guesswork. According to some reports, I am in the frame to follow Peter Moores. This is a good opportunity to set the record straight.

At this stage, I have a full book. I have enjoyed coaching and managing the Rajasthan Royals, but that is for a couple of months a year. I could not give a full-time position the time required to do the job properly. In any case, following a team around the world is what I have given up. If that is what I wanted, I would still be a player. But - and we all have this “but” in life - if an offer comes that sounds too good to be true, I would have to stop and think.

England coaching job would suit an Aussie

Darren Lehmann would be the best Antipodean to replace Peter Moores - it would not be me

• Shane Warne plays down England link

• Kevin Pietersen tops Andrew Strauss' in-tray

• Andrew Strauss has case for one-day captaincy

BACKGROUND

• Cricket conspired against Pietersen

• Miller was unaware of problems

• Latest action from the Long Room at Lord's

• Snape: Ashes will be a psychological battle

Multimedia

• Video: Pietersen returns to England

• Video: Pietersen's press conference

Times Archive, 1974: Boycott walks out

To an uncommon degree, Boycott is a man driven by personal ambition. This being so he finds it more difficult than most to accept a subordinate position

• Times Archive: Sport

BACKGROUND

• Strauss must heal England's rifts

• Strauss asked to pick up the pieces

• Ashes bid in chaos as big gamble fails

• Pietersen: England's flawed genius

Multimedia

• Pietersen's England career

• Do England's Ashes hopes lie in ruin?

Related Links

• Warne plays down England link

• Name of Pietersen tops the Strauss in-tray

• Strauss has case for one-day captaincy

To me, England do need somebody from outside their set-up to take an objective view and bring in a few ideas. He also needs to understand the English system and way of playing. I'd like to throw in the name of an Australian who would do a really good job: not S. K. Warne, but Darren Lehmann. As a player he did wonders for Yorkshire and had the respect of everyone. Now he has moved into coaching. He would be great at installing confidence right across the board, through the players, the ECB, sponsors, supporters ... everybody.

Watching things unfold in England from the other side of the world, I've been amazed to see the set-up in total disarray. It seems incredible that the situation should have gone so far and been made public. Differences have to be sorted out behind closed doors. The balance between captain and coach should be simple: the captain runs the show and the coach is there in the background.

There should have been more support for KP. I believe he should have stayed and Moores gone. From what I have seen and heard, Moores did not have the respect of a number of players. If it is true that Michael Vaughan was not picked for the tour to the West Indies when KP wanted him, then the selectors made the wrong decision. In any case, an England team is better with Vaughan in it. He was the best England captain I faced and would have given KP the support he wanted.

People have to understand the nature of the beast and they should have known the character of KP when they appointed him. We all know he has a massive ego. He needs to be “The Man”. The lack of faith shown in him by the ECB, players and selectors will hurt him. Hopefully, when captains ask him to toe the line and do the team thing, he will understand a bit better and become more of a giver than a taker.

Andrew Strauss is a safe bet. I always think of him as more of a vice-captain than a No 1, a great sounding-board and a very solid, loyal bloke. My choice - if KP really had to go - would have been Rob Key, of Kent. I think Key is unluckly not to have played more for England and I would have put him in charge for all three formats. He has flair and imagination, a good temperament and is well liked within the game.

Ideally, you should look to appoint one captain for all forms and I don't think that Strauss deserves a place in the one-day side on merit. Then again, there are so many things wrong with England in one-day cricket, so maybe the selectors will lose nothing by giving it a try. If there isn't a proper candidate to unite the Test, 50-over and Twenty20 sides, then you adjust.

The only good thing about this is that it happened before England went on tour. It would have been hard to patch up in the Caribbean. And let's stop all this talk about being in turmoil so close to the Ashes. That series is six months away, plenty of time for Strauss and the new coach to put things back on an even keel. I know that people like to see an Ashes angle on cricket stories, but there is no need for sensationalism.

For what it is worth, I think Australia are in a better situation at the moment. We lost 2-1 to South Africa but could have won the series 3-0. Matty Hayden and Mike Hussey were off form and Andy Symonds and Stuart Clark were injured. We were not far away.

At the same time, I think that teams are in for a Pietersen backlash. Anybody who thinks he will lose interest and sulk does not know the guy. He will be more determined than ever to prove himself the No 1 batsman in the world.