Cook swats aside Pietersen 'ultimatum'

PietersenCook - cropped

MORE: Pietersen - No England coach wants to pick a weakened team

Alastair Cook has rejected reports he issued the England and Wales Cricket Board a "him or me" ultimatum over Kevin Pietersen's potential return to the England Test team.

England head into a Test series with New Zealand, beginning on Thursday, with Pietersen dominating the headlines around the team.

New director of England cricket Andrew Strauss' first acts in his role were to part with coach Peter Moores and then rule out a Test return for Pietersen - England's record run scorer across all formats.

Reports had suggested that Cook told Strauss he would step away from the England team if Pietersen was brought back, after slamming several England team-mates - most notably Matt Prior - in his autobiography.

Cook skirted questions on whether he would have been happy to play with Pietersen, but his own place in the team was seemingly never in question.

He said: "There was no ultimatum on KP, I don't know where that came from. 

"Over 15 months, the story hasn't gone away. 

"The decision was made without the players, we just have to play. The players weren't consulted on Pietersen. 

"The story has been put to bed by the ECB. I'm responsible for the team on the field. We have to focus on that.

"I absolutely understand that cricket has taken hammering over the past 18 months. 

"There has been a real big change, but we're now focusing on playing. 

"It's a really exciting time. We made good strides in West Indies, but it was incredibly frustrating to undo that in the last innings of the final Test."

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