Andrew Strauss is standing by for the third time in his career to lead England on a full-time basis after reports this morning that Kevin Pietersen has become the first casualty of the rift with Peter Moores, the head coach.

Sky Sports are saying that the captain has resigned - only five months after his appointment - with opinion turning against him after one of the most bizarre weeks in English cricket.

And reports suggest that Moores has also left his position as coach, with his assistant Andy Flower likely to be offered the role on an interim basis ahead of England's tour of the West Indies.

Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, delivered his assessment to an emergency meeting of the ECB board last night having taken soundings from Moores's coaching staff as well as senior players. Pietersen, who said on Sunday that differences need to be settled before the squad departs for the West Indies on January 21, is due to return from his holiday in Africa tomorrow with the balance of power at home having shifted.

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Bring in Strauss, says Stewart

Former England players give their reaction to the rumours that Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores have both resigned

• Mike Atherton: Ashes series now depends on Kevin Pietersen's reaction

• The highs and lows of Kevin Pietersen's career

• Kevin Pietersen's rift with Peter Moores threatens England

BACKGROUND

• Ford puts his name in the frame

• Pietersen and Moores need to eat humble pie

• Harmison tells Moores and Pietersen to make up

Related Links

• I knew it would end in tears, says Mike Atherton

• Ford puts his name in the frame

• Pietersen and Moores need to eat humble pie

Loyalty of the backroom coaching staff to Moores is understandable - most of them have been appointed since Moores succeeded Duncan Fletcher in May 2007 - but Morris also discovered that a strength of feeling against the coach did not run through the team. Many are ambivalent. Pietersen is a man who is admired as much as liked and it seems that he over-played his hand.

Dennis Amiss, the former England batsman and now vice-chairman of the ECB board, has been a sounding board for Morris in the week since news of the dispute first broke via a source believed to be closer to Michael Vaughan than Pietersen. However, Pietersen gave reports that he had issued a "him or me" ultimatum tacit approval with his calculated decision not to knock them down, thereby stirring the rumour pot.

The future of Moores himself remains in considerable doubt with Morris understood to be thinking of a complete fresh start, even though the Ashes series in only seven months away. Strauss was the alternative candidate to Andrew Flintoff to lead England in Australia in 2006-07 and then when Pietersen succeeded Vaughan last August. His moment may have come and many will feel it is not before time.

While the ECB has yet to confirm that Pietersen has decided to step down a very senior official has told The Times that such a development would not be surprising. It may leave the best player in the team disillusioned but at least, by jumping before he was pushed, he can claim to have saved some face.

The pair have not always seen eye to eye, with reasons for the dispute ranging from a clash of personalities to Pietersen's lack of respect for Moores's tactical credentials, technical know-how and playing career, to the captain's dissatisfaction with Vaughan's omission from the tour to the West Indies.

The squad departs for the Caribbean on January 21 and all parties were keen to resolve the dispute before then.

Pietersen gave credence to longstanding rumours that his relationship with Moores was in trouble by telling a Sunday newspaper: “This situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies.

“Everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team."

The unhappy result of this power struggle is a huge blow for English cricket in Ashes year. Stephen Harmison this week urged both parties to settle their differences to give the team their best chance of wresting the urn back from Down Under after the humiliating thrashing of 2006-07.

Pietersen was appointed last year after Vaughan resigned, England having already lost a series to South Africa. The batsman led the team to a victory in the final Test of that series but England lost the recent two-Test series in India 1-0 and there was criticism that, despite his batting skills, he was tactically naive as a captain.

Before leaving for his two-week vacation, Pietersen told Moores that he wanted Vaughan recalled to the squad for the West Indies tour even though the Yorkshire batsman has been out of form and has hardly played for the past four months.

Vaughan was left out of the squad despite Pietersen’s request and, since then, reports of his disputes with Moores have dominated headlines and news reports.

Mike Atherton, writing at the time of Pietersen's appointment as captain, said the ECB's decision was their biggest gamble ever and that his relationship with Moores would determine the success of his tenure.

"It is no secret that Pietersen has not seen eye to eye with Moores of late and so these differences will have to be settled quickly and irrevocably," the Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times wrote, before adding, "I hope I'm wrong, but I have a horrible feeling that this is going to end in tears."