England all-rounder Ben Stokes has said that he wanted to see attention diverted from the ongoing fall-out from Kevin Pietersen's autobiography to the squad's World Cup chances.
Sacked England batsman Pietersen, who was chucked out of the team after they returned home from their 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia in 2013-14, created a furore with the publication of his autobiography in which he slammed former coach Andy Flower and several current players.
In particular, Pietersen alleged that a group of senior players including bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad instigated a bullying culture where they demanded apologies from less experienced teammates who made fielding errors, Sport24 reported.
This prompted a series of claims and counter-claims and while the hype surrounding Pietersen's book has started to die down, many of his more controversial points may well be aired again ahead of England's seven-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, which starts later this month.
But Stokes said that he hoped the focus would return to on-field matters ahead of a tour which marks the start of England's lead-in to next year's one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Stokes said that one major thing that he reckons is that it's taken the eye off the cricket side of things, adding that it's been focused on the book rather than the amount of stuff England has got coming up.
He said that they have got a World Cup coming up after the New Year and they have got a massive tour coming up to Sri Lanka.
The all-rounder also said that England has been massively focused on what they have got coming up in the next six months and he thinks the reports can suggest that everything has been based around the book rather than the cricket.