Kevin Pietersen has congratulated Ben Stokes after he was officially named as England's new Test captain on Thursday.
Stokes has replaced Joe Root, who resigned earlier this month following England 's 1-0 series defeat to the West Indies. And while Pietersen believes Stokes "has the personality to captain the side", he has warned the all-rounder will be "hamstrung" unless a "radical overhaul of the system improves the quality of players coming through".
Pietersen also said he "would love to see" England appoint Graham Ford as their new Test coach, having worked with him at Surrey. Ford also worked with England's new Managing Director of Men's Cricket Rob Key at Kent, with Key describing him as a "great coach to work with" in his autobiography.
In his latest Betway blog, Pietersen wrote: "Being appointed as England Test captain is an incredible honour. Ben Stokes and his family will be incredibly proud and rightly so.
"I'm a firm believer that the England team needs a leadership group with some gravitas and personality. I enjoyed hearing Rob Key talking about getting the best coaching system in place to change the mentality of the team.
"It's been so doom and gloom, the cricket's been poor and the results have been rubbish. The whole thing needs a shake-up.
"They've got to get the right personnel in charge, above the team, to make sure that the environment is right. Key is a good start, Stokes has the personality to captain the side, and personally I would love to see Graham Ford come in as Test coach to complete the brain trust.
"He is an incredible man manager and he'll work with every player all day long. He'll give you throwdowns until dark and you can ring him at 2am with any issue. He's a fabulous leader who understands the game of cricket like no other.
"Ultimately, though, Stokes and the new coach will be hamstrung until a radical overhaul of the system improves the quality of players coming through. It will be difficult until then, but I wish Stokes the best of luck."
