England all-rounder Ben Stokes has claimed that the controversy surrounding the release of Kevin Pietersen's autobiography last month took too much attention away from issues on the field.
Pietersen, whose contract was terminated by the England and Wales Cricket Board in February, alleged that bullying went on during his international career and criticised former head coach Andy Flower.
Stokes believes that the book has stolen focus from the team ahead of a busy schedule of limited-overs cricket leading up to next year's 50-over World Cup.
"One major thing that I reckon is that it's taken the eye off the cricket side of things, it's been focused on the book rather than the amount of stuff we've got coming up," the 23-year-old told Sky Sports News.
"We've got a World Cup coming up after the New Year and we've got a massive tour coming up to Sri Lanka.
"We've been massively focused on what we've got coming up in the next six months and I think the reports can suggest that everything has been based around the book rather than the cricket."
England's preparations for the tour of Sri Lanka were dealt a blow on Tuesday with the news that James Anderson would miss the trip with a knee injury.
