By Julian Guyer
London - Kent captain Robert Key believes his county's former South Africa coach Graham Ford should be given the England job following the sacking of Peter Moores.
Kevin Pietersen had to resign the England captaincy last Wednesday as Moores was forced out after what the England and Wales Cricket Board said was an "irretrievable breakdown" in their relationship.
That followed star batsman Pietersen's comments to officials that Moores was the wrong man to coach England on their forthcoming tour of the West Indies.
Following Moores's sacking, assistant coach Andy Flower - the former Zimbabwe batsman - will lead the remainder of England's backroom staff when the squad departs for the Caribbean on January 21.
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But Key said Ford, who turned down an offer to coach India in 2007 to stay with south-east county Kent, was the ideal long-term replacement.
"At Kent he has been fantastic. I've never really heard anyone say a bad word about the bloke."
Top-order batsman Key, who won the last of his 15 Test caps in 2005, also told Sky Sports on Monday: "To work with a bunch of talented cricketers like the England team have at the minute, Graham Ford would be the perfect man for that. He has a way of getting the best out of everyone.
"I think in the back of his mind he's looking forward to the challenge of possibly trying to do it and get involved with England. He's had India after him and they offered the job but he turned it down for family reasons.
"If England did offer him the job, there's no way he could turn it down," added Key of Ford, who worked with Pietersen at Natal and won eight of his 11 series as South Africa coach before his two-year reign ended with him being fired in 2001.
There were claims at the time that Ford, 48, was the victim of a power struggle within South African cricket and he took over at Kent in 2004.
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