England's new cricket coach, Peter Moores. - Reuters

LONDON (CMC):

ENGLAND ON Friday appointed Peter Moores as the new national team coach, a day after Duncan Fletcher resigned from the position. Moores, currently the National Academy Director, will take over from May 1.

It had been expected that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would appoint a temporary replacement while it took time to find Fletcher's longer-term replacement, and so Friday's announcement was unforeseen.

"The ECB has developed a contingency and succession plan for all key management positions," David Collier, the board's chief executive said. "Peter has been identified for some time as a leading candidate as a future England head coach. He led Sussex to domestic success and is one of the highest qualified coaches in world cricket. He has worked since 2005 with the National Academy programme and has led tours with the England A team. He is highly respected as an innovative and inspiring coach and is an ideal person to accept this appointment."

Fletcher, 58, had come under increasing pressure after England were beaten 5-0 in the Ashes series and then failed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.