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| | GEO Sports | | Pietersen wrong to quit, says Aussie hero Waugh | Updated at: 0710 PST, Saturday, January 10, 2009
 LONDON: Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh added his respected voice to the Ashes build-up on Friday by telling Kevin Pietersen he was wrong to relinquish the England captaincy.
Pietersen had overseen just three Tests before he spectacularly fell out with coach Peter Moores in a saga which plunged English cricket into crisis just six months before the team attempts to reclaim the Ashes.
Asked if the South African-born Pietersen had blundered in his high-profile resignation, Waugh said: "Yes, I think so.
"It didn't look like it was a terrible situation. It does take a while to work with someone. I mean you're not just going to come on board as a captain and work smoothly and fit in exactly the way he wants," said Waugh speaking to Andrew Strauss.
Moores, sacked as coach, has been replaced on a temporary basis by former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower who will lead England on their forthcoming tour of the West Indies.
Waugh, the most successful international captain of all time having won 40 of his 53 Tests in charge between 1999 and 2004, insists that few people have emerged with much credit from the crisis.
"In the end both people suffer. Kevin had to resign from the captaincy and Peter Moores has lost a coaching job, so no one's a winner, and it really puts England one step further back than they'd like to be."
Waugh also believes that despite the controversy, Pietersen will not be cold-shouldered when he returns to England duty to prepare for the squad's departure to the Caribbean on January 21. |  |
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