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Video: Pietersen's press conference

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Andrew Strauss was left to bring order to the disarray in England cricket at the end of a dramatic day in which Kevin Pietersen jumped before he was pushed and Peter Moores was dismissed after rejecting a similar offer to resign, both victims of an “irretrievable breakdown” in their relationship at the centre of power.

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An emergency meeting of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had decided that a complete break was needed after a week of speculation and that both captain and head coach had to go. Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, said that it would have been “impossible to restore dressing-room unity” had Pietersen continued in charge.

Pietersen, who returns home from his safari holiday in South Africa this morning, did not have the support among senior players for the removal of Moores that he imagined. The head coach was on a rolling one-year contract that will cost about £250,000 to be paid in full. The only good news was a strong commitment from Pietersen to continue as a player. Such a pledge may not have been forthcoming had Moores remained in situ.

“It is a terrible day for English cricket,” Chris Adams, the captain when Sussex, with Moores as coach, won their first County Championship in 2003, said. “He’s been given 18 months, which is no time to judge anybody, and I know he’s terribly disappointed.”

Initial reports that Pietersen had resigned appeared at 9am, but he did not make his decision until the afternoon and confirmed it at about 5pm, by which time he was at Durban airport. Nothing appeared from the ECB until Morris read out a statement at 6pm at the Brit Oval. Earlier, at Lord’s, Strauss had met Geoff Miller, the national selector, before agreeing to lead England on the tour to the West Indies that begins on January 21.

A decision has yet to be taken on whether he will also take charge for the five one-day internationals that follow the four-Test series, although he has not played for England in that form of the game since the 2007 World Cup.

The next task for Morris, upset at the escalation and outcome of the rift, is to find a temporary head coach for the Caribbean. Moores succeeded Duncan Fletcher within 24 hours of Fletcher’s resignation in 2007; England are giving themselves until the start of the season in April to find a successor this time.

Morris described Pietersen as “highly valued” and praised Moores for “the dignity he has shown in recent days under extreme pressure”. However, he said the scale of differences had become “an impossible situation”.

He first became aware of ructions when Pietersen approached him two days before the Mohali Test last month and, although issues could not be resolved during talks between the three in India, Morris still hoped to broker a settlement.

A solution became much harder to achieve once disagreements became public on New Year’s Eve. Pietersen was not the source of original reports, but his failure to deny them fuelled the story. He did, however, show to the ECB before publication comments he had given to the Sunday newspaper for which he writes, in which he said that the situation was unhealthy and needed resolving.

Pietersen said last night: “I have principles in my professional and personal life on how things are done. As the England captain I have always been helpful and direct in communications with the ECB. At no time have I released any unauthorised information to the media regarding my relationships with the players, coaches and the ECB itself.”

Morris spoke to Pietersen and Moores on Tuesday evening and met Moores yesterday morning, when the coach reiterated his wish to carry on. Around the same time — when clarity was desperately required — the ECB website was closed for maintenance. So, it seemed, was the national game.