Intro:

Captain Alastair Cook says he did not issue an ultimatum to England’s management before they decided to continue batsman Kevin Pietersen’s international exile.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Alastair Cook, England captain:

(on the decision to not pick Kevin Pietersen and reports that he gave a 'him or me' ultimatum to England)

"There was no ultimatum. I can deny that. I don't know quite where that came from. Over the last 15 months this story hasn't gone away. There is nothing we can do about it as players. The decision has been made ahead of us, by Andrew Strauss and Tom Harrison. That was made last week alongside Peter Moores. We've just got to focus on the cricket. Look forward to what's going to be a fantastic summer. We've a huge challenge for this young side, obviously New Zealand and then Australia as well. It's a great summer of cricket - all the external stuff, as players, and now with this management system in place, we trust them to make those decisions. They trust us to get out in the field and do our job there. It wasn't and isn't my decision. I trust those that made the decision. I have to let management manage."

SOUNDBITE (English) Alastair Cook, England captain:

(asked if he agrees with the decision not to pick Pietersen)

"I do agree with the decision, yeah, but this decision was made by those two (Harrison and Strauss) and that's what their new roles are and they made that very clear when they talked to the team on Monday."

Question: "Can you explain why you agree with the decision?"

Cook: "To be honest with you John, this thing has gone on for 15 months or so now and we've got to start looking forward as a side. We have to really focus on what is important to us now. For me, it's leading the players out tomorrow at Lord's trying to win a Test series. All the external stuff which has happened over the last 10 or so days isn't important. What is important is how we play our cricket tomorrow and that's all I can focus on as captain."