Image courtesy of: Zimbio
“What happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room”
England captain Alastair Cook has refused to get involved in the ongoing Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower controversy, stating that “what happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room”.
According to reports, the relationship between Pietersen and Flower has turned frosty once again.
There have even been rumours surfacing that Flower told the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to remove Pietersen from the national team otherwise he would step down as team director.
“It’s very hard for me to talk to you the media about this,” Cook said. “It’s very hard.
“I can’t do that. Confidentiality and stuff like that – what happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room. I refuse to do that.
“You can regard it as you want. As is the way with the media that happens.”
However, Cook admitted that he was still hurting after England were whitewashed 5-0 by Australia in the recently concluded Ashes series.
“Obviously when you lose a series 5-0 a lot of things get thrown up and thrown in your face as a captain,” he said. “You start looking at everything and it is important that we do that. What is also important is that it has only been a week since everything happened.
“I would be wrong if I wasn’t lying in my bed over the last week or so thinking about stuff I would like to do and how I would like to lead this side forward and the decisions which go with that.”
Cook is now looking to avenge the team’s loss in the Ashes by winning the upcoming ODI series against Australia, which gets underway tomorrow in Melbourne.
“What is important for me is the one-day series at this precise moment in time,” he said. “We know that when I get home from this one-day series a lot of important decisions on how we want to go forward with this Test team, the one-day team and my future – all that kind of stuff – is very important.
“My total focus has to be on us winning games of cricket in this series.
“We have a World Cup in 2015 in exactly the same conditions as we are going to experience here and that has to be given my full thought.
“After this series then you go back on to how do we rebuild the Test side.”
The 29-year-old added that it was a major relief to find out that the ECB still believe he is the best man to be leading England in both Test matches and ODIs.
“That is reassuring,” Cook said. “It is nice knowing that.
“It is nice knowing that you have the opportunity to try and make amends as a captain. I’m desperate to try and do it. The challenge is whether I’m good enough to do it.
“We’re going to see over the next couple of years or however long.”