Vaughan slams ECB's move to end Pietersen's international career as 'madness'

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has slammed the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) decision to end the international career of controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen and has branded it as 'madness'.

The ECB is facing a huge public backlash after revealing that Pietersen will not be included in the one-day squad to tour the West Indies later this month, nor the Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh that follows.

According to the Mirror, after calling time on Pietersen's England career, the ECB - who needs to pay 500,00 pounds for the remaining eight months of his central contract - issued a statement to justify their choice of scapegoat for the 5-0 Ashes wipeout in Australia.

However, Vaughan has slammed the move and warned that the ECB needs to properly explain what Pietersen did and why they cannot manage him any longer.

The report mentioned that captain Alastair Cook was involved in the dramatic summit which sealed Pietersen's fate, adding that Cook and Pietersen allegedly had a row in Sydney last month, which may have proved the last straw.

Pietersen, who could contest his axing in the courts by invoking employment law, scored a record 13,797 runs across all forms of the game for England, the report added.