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| Alastair Cook: Kevin Pietersen decision rests with ECB, not me | Alastair Cook: Kevin Pietersen decision rests with ECB, not me |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| England’s Test captain, Alastair Cook, and head coach, Peter Moores, flew to the Caribbean with their players on Thursday knowing only a convincing series win will quell the growing talk of an international return for Kevin Pietersen. | England’s Test captain, Alastair Cook, and head coach, Peter Moores, flew to the Caribbean with their players on Thursday knowing only a convincing series win will quell the growing talk of an international return for Kevin Pietersen. |
| Pietersen has signed to play county cricket for Surrey this summer and hopes a glut of runs – along with an England failure in their three Tests against West Indies – can prompt a rethink from the selectors. | |
| But Cook and Moores, speaking before the journey to St Kitts and Monday’s first tour match, refused to be drawn on whether they could countenance such a controversial return for the 34-year-old. And they instead maintained that a trio of senior figures at the England and Wales Cricket Board – chairman-elect Colin Graves, chief executive Tom Harrison and managing director Paul Downton – and not themselves would be the ones to make the call. | |
| “Contrary to what you may read, I’m a long way away from that decision,” Cook said. “It’s down to Paul, Tom and Colin about Kevin – it’s not down to us. We’ve got 16 guys going to West Indies who are desperate to start turning round English cricket from what’s happened over the last three months [at the World Cup]. It’s not for us to focus on. We have to be so strong in the West Indies to try to win that series. It’s the only thing that matters. The three guys at the top of the ECB have to make that decision.” | “Contrary to what you may read, I’m a long way away from that decision,” Cook said. “It’s down to Paul, Tom and Colin about Kevin – it’s not down to us. We’ve got 16 guys going to West Indies who are desperate to start turning round English cricket from what’s happened over the last three months [at the World Cup]. It’s not for us to focus on. We have to be so strong in the West Indies to try to win that series. It’s the only thing that matters. The three guys at the top of the ECB have to make that decision.” |
| Moores said: “I’ll tell you it from my point of view, Kevin isn’t on the radar. He can’t be in mine or Cooky’s focus at all. That’s not my decision, I’ve got enough decisions to make. Kevin’s not on this trip so I don’t have to focus on him at all. My focus is to support Alastair as captain and make sure we put the best XI out and we play the sort of cricket people want to watch and help us win.” | Moores said: “I’ll tell you it from my point of view, Kevin isn’t on the radar. He can’t be in mine or Cooky’s focus at all. That’s not my decision, I’ve got enough decisions to make. Kevin’s not on this trip so I don’t have to focus on him at all. My focus is to support Alastair as captain and make sure we put the best XI out and we play the sort of cricket people want to watch and help us win.” |
| Pietersen revealed on Thursday that he is hoping to begin his season with Surrey in a three-day match against Oxford MCCU in The Parks, starting on 12 April. Responding to a question on periscope.tv, Pietersen said: “I think I am going to be playing at Oxford, just to get some overs in my legs.” | Pietersen revealed on Thursday that he is hoping to begin his season with Surrey in a three-day match against Oxford MCCU in The Parks, starting on 12 April. Responding to a question on periscope.tv, Pietersen said: “I think I am going to be playing at Oxford, just to get some overs in my legs.” |
| Moores in particular is under pressure to start producing results, with a 3-1 Test series win over India last summer the only highlight in his 12 months since returning for a second spell as head coach. Graves’s claim that there would be “inquiries” should England fail to win in the Caribbean makes this tour look win or bust. | Moores in particular is under pressure to start producing results, with a 3-1 Test series win over India last summer the only highlight in his 12 months since returning for a second spell as head coach. Graves’s claim that there would be “inquiries” should England fail to win in the Caribbean makes this tour look win or bust. |
| “No, it doesn’t work like that. I think we all know we’re in a results business,” insisted Moores, when asked if he had been given assurances over his position. “Tom Harrison and Colin Graves have come in and Tom has been great since he’s been here. For me, I’m just focusing on what’s in front of us. We’ve got a couple of practice games and we go straight into the Test series and we don’t need to go any further than that. | |
| “It’s as simple as that, it’s about winning games of cricket for England. If there’s a message from that, we’d like everybody to keep things simple. To win games you have to play attacking cricket with discipline and skill and be totally committed and that’s what we’re going to try to do in the West Indies.” | |
| Related: Jason Gillespie: Joe Root is ready to lead England … he would embrace it | Related: Jason Gillespie: Joe Root is ready to lead England … he would embrace it |