Graham Thorpe says Michael Vaughan must retire from one-day international cricket and hand the England captaincy in the shortened game to Kevin Pietersen.

Vaughan struggled throughout the World Cup in the Caribbean in the spring after a year of injury problems and can only boast a modest one-day record.

Former England batsman Thorpe believes Vaughan should now concentrate on leading the Test side and he sees Pietersen, the world's leading one-day batsman, as the man to replace him.

Thorpe, who played 100 Tests and 82 ODIs, said: "Michael should have retired from ODIs after the World Cup and I think he should reconsider now to prolong his Test career to the Ashes in 2009.

"Some people may find this surprising but I'd like to see Kevin Pietersen take over as one-day skipper, as I believe it could be the making of him.

"You need people with that hunger to play ODIs, and I think Pietersen could inspire a new-look one day team."

Pietersen cracked a superb career-best 226 in the second Test against West Indies at Headingley last week.

Thorpe added: "Kevin Pietersen's innings at Leeds proved to me that he has the mental strength that could make him England's highest ever run-scorer."

The match also marked a superb return to Test cricket for Vaughan, who scored a century in his first appearance in the five-day game for 18 months due to injury.

Thorpe said: "Michael Vaughan made a triumphant return for England in the second Test which can only be good news for the side going forward.

"I know there were grumbles around about him coming back straight away, and some were waiting for him to make a mistake, but he answered them emphatically."

England won at Headingley by an innings and 283 runs and having lost skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan to injury, West Indies looked a dejected side.

Thorpe admits he cannot see them making much improvement before the third match of the four-Test series at Old Trafford next week.

He said: "The Windies were woeful at Headingley, proving their inexperience against the swinging ball.

"Technically they were no better than Bangladesh or Zim-babwe and it's hard to see them improving, with the weather being so poor at the moment."