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Kevin Pietersen [Images] has resigned as captain of the England [Images] cricket team after appearing to lose a power struggle with coach Peter Moores, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

Pietersen, who was appointed last year following the resignation of Michael Vaughan [Images], had been in dispute over the running of the team with Moores and said on Sunday that "it had to be sorted out."

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) held an emergency teleconference for their executive board on Tuesday to discuss the rift and Pietersen, who is on holiday in South Africa [Images] following the recent test series in India, was reported to have resigned following that discussion.

England set off this month for a test and one-day series in West Indies [Images], face the West Indies again in May, then play the Twenty20 [Images] World Cup before taking on Australia [Images] for the Ashes.

• Rift with Moores not healthy, says Pietersen