Peter Moores: 'The challenge of this new role excites me' © Getty Images

Peter Moores has been appointed as the new England coach, less than 24 hours after the ECB announced the resignation of Duncan Fletcher. He will take over from May 1.

It had been expected that the ECB would appoint a temporary replacement while it took time to find Fletcher's longer-term replacement, and so today's announcement caught many by surprise.

"The ECB has developed a contingency and succession plan for all key management positions," David Collier, the board's chief executive said. "Peter has been identified for some time as a leading candidate as a future England head coach. He led Sussex to domestic success and is one of the highest qualified coaches in world cricket.

"He has worked since 2005 with the National Academy programme and has led tours with the England A Team. He is highly respected as an innovative and inspiring coach and is an ideal person to accept this appointment."

Moores, who had been widely touted in the media as Fletcher's likely successor, said: "It's an honour to have been appointed as England head coach and to succeed Duncan Fletcher, who has been an outstanding coach of the England team. The challenge of this new role excites me and I look forward to meeting up with the players on their return to the United Kingdom and to leading England to success in both Test and one-day cricket."

Moores, 44, coached Sussex in 2003 to their first Championship title and succeeded Rod Marsh as director of the National Academy in 2005.

"He is an excellent choice and an excellent candidate for the job because of what he has done for Sussex and the National Academy," Alastair Cook, the England batsman, told Cricinfo. "When I've come across him he has been fantastic and I look forward to working with him. His vision, leadership and enthusiasm will stand him in good stead to do a good job."