Alec Stewart has joined the chorus of calls for Andrew Strauss to be appointed as the new England captain as rumours continue to circulate that Kevin Pietersen has resigned from the role. Peter Moores is also reported to have stepped down as coach following their public dispute.

"It's a huge honour to captain your country," Stewart said. "It's a job you grow into. Pietersen was very inexperienced at captaincy. I don't think he had captained at any level except possibly under-age in South Africa. Before accepting, he wanted to clear a few things up. Inside a few months that relationship proved not strong enough and now we're talking about who will be the new England captain.

"I'd have thought the easy decision would be Andrew Strauss. He was close to getting it previously. The ECB wanted one captain for all styles of game - that's probably where Andrew Strauss would be questioned. I'd have thought certainly for the West Indies trip, the Test series. They will have to think about who is going to be the one-day captain."

Stewart was fully behind the decision to make Pietersen Test and one-day captain last August. "I'm a big fan of Kevin," he said. "He's a tremendous player and will probably be a great of the game by the time his career finishes. I was all in favour of him being England captain. He had a lot to offer both as batsman and captain.

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Andrew Strauss is the obvious man for the England captaincy, there is no other stand-out candidate

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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

• Highs and lows of Pietersen's career

• Dressing room rift threatens England

"Captain is a 24-7 job. It's not just about making decisions on the field - the responsibilities are off field. It's vital that partnership with the coach and manager is very strong. They won't always agree.

"It's about working with the authorities - in this case the ECB, the coach - planning for game practice sessions etc. It appears Pietersen had a different outlook to Moores in how they wanted the team to move foward. I understand the ECB offered Moores a two-year extension to his contract and the extension of that offer came before Christmas. They obviously felt Moores was the right man to take England forward. Pietersen obviously felt he was not being backed and that's why he resigned."

Stewart feels Pietersen may look back with some regret at the developments which seemingly caused the end of his reign after just over five months.

"In football the manager runs everything," said the former Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman. "If any Manchester United player questioned Sir Alex Ferguson they would be on the transfer list and out very quickly.

"In cricket, it's generally seen that the captain is the boss. He's making decisions on the field - he accountable. The coach/manager in cricket is there to support the captain.

"I can understand Pietersen wanting things his way. In hindsight maybe he'll think he went about it the wrong way."

Mark Butcher, the former England batsman, also believes Strauss would be the best option as Pietersen's successor.

"In terms of captain of the England Test side, Strauss has been sat there in the winds since before the previous Ashes series, when he did take over a couple of times from Michael Vaughan before the ill-fated 5-0 whitewash," he said.