HAMPSHIRE chairman Rod Bransgrove has challenged ECB managing director Hugh Morris to solve the feud between England captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores.

Bransgrove signed Pietersen to play under Shane Warne at Hampshire in 2004 after the South African had his last bust-up with colleagues.

Pietersen arrived at the Rose Bowl a few weeks before his England debut following a long-running feud with Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell that was more bitter than his irreconcilable differences with Moores.

Within two months of his Hampshire debut in April 2005, Pietersen was a Test regular but it has taken him less than five months as England captain for his differences with Moores to come to a head.

The likes of Kent coach Graham Ford, Warwickshire’s Ashley Giles and even Warne have already been touted as possible replacements for Moores with Pietersen expected to get his way to give England the best chance of retaining the Ashes this summer.

Bransgrove said: “This is an inevitable outcome because it was apparent early on that KP and Peter Moores are very different characters. But it’s extraordinary that people have got as far as speculating on a replacement for poor Peter.

“I still think this can all be resolved but the challenge for [ECB managing director] Hugh Morris is to impose his management authority to get rid of this problem.

“He needs to find a solution and tell both of them: these are the terms of the job and this is the way we are going to select the team.

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