Warren Hegg retired from cricket in 2005

Former Lancashire wicketkeeper Warren Hegg has branded the appointment of Kevin Pietersen as England captain in all forms of the game as a mistake.

Hegg has admitted that he would have liked to have seen the responsibility of the job shared.

The ex-England keeper told BBC Radio Lancashire: "The smart money would have been on KP being the one-day captain.

"That would let him ease in to Test cricket. But they have jumped straight in and it's a panic selection."

Hegg, who retired from county cricket in 2005, has said that Michael Vaughan should have stayed in the job longer.

"I personally don't think that Michael Vaughan should have let it go. He said he couldn't sleep at night but we've all been in a situation where it is tough," said Hegg.

"Maybe if Michael had weathered the storm a little bit and got a decent result at The Oval it might have changed his mind a little bit."

Although Hegg does not agree with the decision to appoint Pietersen as Test skipper, he does admit that the selectors may have been left without many options.

"I will be a big workload for KP but the powers that be have probably realised that he is the only man who could do this," he added.

"It's obvious they want to go to one captain for all three formats of the game and he's the only automatic pick in that side."