Pietersen Steps Into the Fray and Becomes England Cricket Captain

The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed that Kevin Pietersen has become the new Test and one-day captain of England. Pietersen takes the role, replacing Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, who stepped down from their respective roles yesterday. Pietersen will now lead the team into the fourth Test against South Africa at The Oval, which begins on Thursday.

"I'm very thrilled and excited to have been given the opportunity to captain England," said Pietersen. "It's a huge honor and a terrific challenge for me at this stage of my international career. I have learned a great deal about leadership from playing under both Michael and Paul and fully appreciate the level of responsibility that comes with the job of captaining your country. My immediate priority will be this week's fourth Test and I will be devoting all my energies to ensuring that the team are properly prepared and play to their full potential, starting on Thursday."

National selector Geoff Miller, who heads the selection panel which chose Pietersen, confirmed his role as an established member of all three international teams was a key factor. "In choosing a new captain, we were keen to identify a player who could lead the team in all three forms of cricket and bring fresh enthusiasm and ideas to the role of captain," said Miller. "Kevin is a world-class player who will command the respect of the dressing room and I am sure he will be looking to lead from the front and work closely with both the players and the coaching staff to bring England success in the future."

Pietersen will lead a squad showing just one change from the one which slumped to a five-wicket defeat at Edgbaston to secure South Africa's series win - with Essex's Ravi Bopara replacing Vaughan, who has chosen to take a break from the game. But the squad for the NatWest Twenty20 international and five-match one-day international series shows several changes with key all-rounder Andrew Flintoff coming in to replace Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas.

The Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior has earned a recall as a replacement for Tim Ambrose, who scored just 10 runs in five innings in the recent series defeat by New Zealand, while uncapped Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel is included for the first time. Left-arm spinner Patel is also included in the England Lions squad to face the tourists in Leicester on August 14, while Simon Jones is included for that 50-over match - the first time he has been included in an international squad since 2005.

Emerging Kent opener Joe Denly will also report for the Leicester match while the England selectors have given recognition to Middlesex's Twenty20 Cup triumph by including three players - Owais Shah, Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan - in the Lions squad to face South Africa at Derby in a one-day match on August 16.

Meanwhile, Flintoff is convinced Pietersen will have "no problems" taking on the role of England captain. "Kevin's a great player, a strong character in the dressing room," said Flintoff. "He's a very fine player in both forms of the game. He's a very determined and single-minded man who knows what he wants. Kevin has a lot of qualities that people want in a captain. He is a good lad. He's a very motivated person."

The Lancashire all-rounder stressed he had not been interested in taking over from Vaughan. "I think the side have got to move forward and by appointing me as captain I don't think that would be a good option. There are other people out there that could do a better job," he said.

Flintoff admitted he was surprised by Vaughan's decision to stand down as skipper once the Test series defeat to South Africa was confirmed by defeat at Edgbaston. "Michael's been a great captain for a long time," Flintoff added. "It's disappointing the way in which he's gone out. It would have been nice if he had gone out on a high. He's a fine player and he's someone who will score a lot more runs for England I'm sure."

England squad for the fourth Test against South Africa, starting on Thursday at The Oval: KP Pietersen (capt, Hampshire), AN Cook (Essex), AJ Strauss (Middlesex), IR Bell (Warwickshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), A Flintoff (Lancashire), TR Ambrose (wkt, Warwickshire), RS Bopara (Essex), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), SJ Harmison (Durham), JM Anderson (Lancashire), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire).

England's squad for the Twenty20 international and one-day series against South Africa: KP Pietersen (capt, Hampshire), AN Cook (Essex), LJ Wright (Sussex), IR Bell (Warwickshire), RS Bopara (Essex), OA Shah (Middlesex), PD Collingwood (Durham), A Flintoff (Lancashire), MJ Prior (Sussex, wkt), SC Broad (Nottinghamshire), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire) , GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), JM Anderson (Lancashire), CT Tremlett (Hampshire), SR Patel (Nottinghamshire).