Kevin Pietersen has been unveiled as captain of England's Test and one day cricket teams after selectors ended 24 hours of frenzied speculation.

It followed the dramatic resignations of both their senior skippers, Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, on Sunday.

Pietersen, 28, claimed the role after the fall-out created by England's defeat in the third Test against South Africa. Collingwood will deputise for KP in both teams.

He said: "It's a huge honour and a terrific challenge for me at this stage of my international career.

"I have learned a great deal about leadership from playing under both Michael and Paul and fully appreciate the level of responsibility that comes with the job of captaining your country.

"My immediate priority will be this week's fourth npower Test and I will be devoting all my energies to ensuring that the team are properly prepared and play to their full potential, starting on Thursday."

Asked about how he will lead the teams: "I'm gut instinct-orientated, I work spontaneously and do what I feel is right in a situation - I've got a good cricket brain and will always take advice and ask questions."

National selector Geoff Miller, who heads the selection panel which chose Pietersen, confirmed his role as an established member of all three international teams was a key factor.

He explained: "In choosing a new captain, we were keen to identify a player who could lead the team in all three forms of cricket and bring fresh enthusiasm and ideas to the role of captain.

"If he takes to his captaincy like he does his batting, there'll be no problem.

"Kevin is a world-class player who will command the respect of the dressing room and I am sure he will be looking to lead from the front and work closely with both the players and the coaching staff to bring England success in the future."

Insisting that Pietersen's selection was not a rushed choice, Miller said: "There was no panic in the decision - if you look at the team, we've not changed the side dramatically - this is a new captain with new ideas."

Vaughan, England's most successful Test captain with 26 victories, ended his five-year reign with an emotional press conference.

In what the Yorkshire batsman will most likely come to consider a fitting fate, he started and ended his tenure as captain with losses to the Proteas and was eventually replaced by South African-born Pietersen.

The squad for the one day international series against South Africa was also announced, with the surprise inclusion of Ravi Bopara to replace Vaughan.

The full squad is:

KP Pietersen (capt, Hampshire), AN Cook (Essex), AJ Strauss (Middlesex), IR Bell (Warwickshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), A Flintoff (Lancashire), TR Ambrose (wkt, Warwickshire), RS Bopara (Essex), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), SJ Harmison (Durham), JM Anderson (Lancashire), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire)

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