England are considering making Kevin Pietersen their official vice-captain in Bangladesh in an attempt to speed up his rehabilitation from the worst year of his professional life.
Pietersen ended England"s tour of South Africa desperately out of form to cap a miserable 12 months in which he lost the captaincy in acrimonious circumstances and then suffered a serious achilles tendon injury.
Now England may welcome him back into the management fold to try to eradicate any lingering resentment Pietersen feels about the insensitive way he was forced from office after complaining about coach Peter Moores.
Safe pair of hands: Kevin Pietersen may become Alastair Cook"s deputy
Alastair Cook, who will lead England in Bangladesh next week, wants an official vice-captain to help him in the absence of captain Andrew Strauss. And England are due to decide on their best man when they arrive in Dhaka for a two-Test and three one-day international tour on Sunday.
All logic points to Pietersen, not least because the only other viable candidate, Paul Collingwood, reiterated on his arrival here for two Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan on Friday and Saturday that his captaincy days in all but the shortest form are over.
"I had a go at captaincy and it was mentally fatiguing," said Collingwood, who resigned as England"s one-day leader in 2008. "We all saw the effect it had on my game and I"m happy just to do the Twenty20 job now."
Torment: Pietersen endured a torrid time on the tour to South Africa after his return from serious injury
There would be little point, then, in asking the Durham man to be Cook"s deputy when he is reluctant to step into the captaincy shoes should the young stand-in be injured in Bangladesh.
An intriguing long-term possibility for higher office is Stuart Broad, who could emerge as a rival to Cook as Strauss"s eventual successor, as long as the all-round demands on him and his own competitive spirit do not get the better of him.
Yet, even though Broad, 23, could well get some one-day international captaincy experience in the next year or so, it is unlikely England would ask him to back up a novice leader in Cook, 25.
It is clearly a job for someone of experience and Pietersen was shaping up to be a more than competent leader until the ECB decided both he and Moores would have to go at the start of 2009.
"Cooky and I have discussed this and we will have a vice-captain in place at the start of the Bangladesh tour," said England team director Andy Flower. "We"ve got a clear idea of who it might be and I don"t think it"s a very difficult decision."
England will make the short journey to Abu Dhabi tomorrow to play their own second-string Lions team, who have been in impressive form on their own tour of the United Arab Emirates.
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