Alastair Cook has broken his silence on the Kevin Pietersen affair to hit out at accusations of a bullying culture in the England cricket team and to defend coach Andy Flower and team-mate Matt Prior, who bore the full brunt of Pietersen's bile in his controversial autobiography. The England captain took the decision to speak on behalf of his team on Saturday at the end of a week which has seen one of the greatest of all England teams being under repeated attack from the man they jettisoned in January. 'It's been a really sad week for cricket,' said Cook. 'After talking to quite a few of my teammates on the England team, we have to draw a line under it at some stage and this is a good time to do that.
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Kevin Pietersen's autobiography has caused huge controversy
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England Test and ODI captain Alastair Cook has vehemently defended coach Andy Flower and Matt Prior who Pietersen heavily criticised
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'It's been a really sad week for cricket' claims Cook
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Cook highlights respect for Flower and denies any culture of bullying
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Describes pride of successful era alongside Flower and Andrew Strauss
Cook's relationship turned sour with Pietersen after the batsman was sacked from @placeholder's team last winter