LOUGHBOROUGH (England), April 25: New England coach Peter Moores gave a ringing endorsement of captain Michael Vaughan on Wednesday and confirmed the batsman would lead the team into the first Test of the new season.

Moores was appointed last week to replace Duncan Fletcher, who stood down after eight years in the job in the wake of an Ashes whitewash and a poor showing at the World Cup.

At his first news conference in his new role the former Sussex and England Academy coach said Yorkshire's Vaughan, under pressure as one-day captain after a poor World Cup in the Caribbean, would be a key part of his England set-up.

“I'll talk to Michael Vaughan about the way he wants to go forward and the way I do,” Moores told reporters ahead of next month's clash with West Indies.

“Michael is already captain for that first test so I think it's important top speak to him.

“His reputation as a captain goes without saying and he'll have some fairly interesting views on what happened in the winter.

“There are lots of things that make a team tick but the captain-coach relationship is one of the key ones.

“Michael came to Perth before Christmas and to watch him operate as a man was very impressive. I was very impressed and I'm looking forward to working with him.”

There have been calls for Vaughan to be relieved of the captaincy of the under-performing one-day side but Moores indicated that he would want him to continue in both roles.

“Michael Vaughan's record as a captain is outstanding,” he said.

“I want to see what Michael's view is and what lessons have been learned over the winter. In an ideal world it's nice to have one captain.”

Moores, who is held in high regard as a coach despite never playing international cricket, said he felt fantastic about the challenge ahead and was really looking forward to it.—Reuters