England captain Alastair Cook has insisted that his team will not allow events of the past few days to distract them ahead of the first Test against the West Indies.
Speculation about who will be named director of cricket following the departure of managing director Paul Downton has dominated the headlines this week, and the focus was back on Kevin Pietersen on Sunday as the exiled batsman scored a century for Surrey on his return to international cricket.
However, Cook claims that his players are only thinking about Monday's first session in Antigua as England look to move on from a disappointing World Cup campaign in their first Test match since last summer.
"As you can see there are big decisions going on behind the scenes at the ECB, but that can't affect us and we're not letting it," Cook told reporters.
"That's the way it should be. The day before a Test match a captain should be worried about what's important to him, which is making sure we're ready for trying to win a series out here in the West Indies."
England are expected to welcome Jonathan Trott back into the side on Monday as the Warwickshire batsman prepares to make his 50th Test appearance.
Callum Mulvihill
