Kevin Pietersen has left his position as England Cricket Captain today, following a row with coach Peter Moores. Although the details are still not clear, it looks like Moores has quit as England coach. That means there are 2 new markets this Wednesday on bookies.com, Next England Captain and one for the Next England Coach.

Paddy Power must have made a mistake by offering 11/10 on Andrew Strauss, as he is now 2/5 favourite with Ladbrokes. The markets have been shambolic this morning, with Kevin Pietersen priced up at varying prices from Paddy Power’s 11/8 and Coral’s 14/1. Unsurprisingly, Coral and Paddy Power have taken down their markets whilst things calm down a little.

Check the terms with your bookmaker before placing a bet, because although most are taking bets on the captain for the 1st Test against West Indies, William Hill have specified that their market is on the captain for the 1st Ashes Test. Meanwhile Ladbrokes will void bets if Pietersen is captain for the West Indies Test Series, so their 2/5 about Strauss is probably a better price than other firms’ 8/13.

Andrew Strauss has enjoyed some great form recently and is a well respected player who deserves his place in the side. That said, we may well see 2/1 KP return as captain under a different coach. Pietersen is currently the 7/4 second favourite on Betfair, so perhaps there may even be value in 2/1 with Stan James.

Other contenders are 8/1 Flintoff and 20/1 Collingwood. As for 33/1 Michael Vaughan, it looks like his time is up. Robert Key has had some interest in the market, 20/1 from 40/1.

In the Next Coach market, Andy Flower is the 2/7 hot favourite, who may take over as an interim coach. He was made assistant coach in May 2007, and the bookies reckon that he’ll be promoted. Ashley Giles is 6/1, but 5/1 Graham Ford is probably more of interest, in from 12/1.

This turmoil means that Australia have shortened for the Ashes, with Boylesports offering the stand-out price of 6/5, although some bookmakers go odds-on.

bookies.com compares odds between the top UK bookmakers on hundreds of cricket markets:

Next England Captain Betting

Next England Coach Betting

The Ashes 2009 Betting

Will Shane Warne bowl a ball in the Ashes? Betting

West Indies v England Test Series Betting

New Zealand v West Indies 4th ODI Betting