England captain Alastair Cook insisted today he had issued no ultimatum that led to Kevin Pietersen's ongoing exile from the national side.
After Andrew Strauss, the England and Wales Cricket Board's new director of cricket, confirmed Pietersen would remain in the international wilderness -- where the star batsman has been for some 15 months since the team's 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia -- reports emerged that Cook had issued a 'him or me' ultimatum to his new players and had threatened to resign if the South Africa-born Pietersen was recalled to the side.
However, Cook, speaking to reporters at Lord's today, said the decision over Pietersen had been taken by Strauss and new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison alone.
"There was no ultimatum. I can deny that," said Cook. "I don't know quite where that came from.
"There is nothing we can do about it as players. The decision has been made, by Andrew Strauss and Tom Harrison," the opening batsman added ahead of Thursday's first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.
But although he wasn't a party to the decision, Cook said he supported Pietersen's continuing absence from the England team.
"I do agree with the decision, yes," he said. "But the decision was made by those two (Strauss and Harrison). That's what their new roles are, and they made that very clear when they were talking to the team.
"This thing has gone on for 15 months now, and we've got to start looking forward as a side."
- Interesting two weeks -
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Since England's recent 1-1 series draw in the West Indies, Strauss has also presided over the sacking of England coach Peter Moores, with assistant coach Paul Farbrace now in caretaker charge.
"It's been an interesting two weeks," added Cook.
