BASSETERRE, St.Kitts, CMC- England’s cricketers arrived in the Caribbean late on Thursday for their three-Test tour of the West Indies.
The visitors, captained by Alastair Cook, have two warm-up matches in St Kitts before the first Test starts in Antigua on April 13.
Their departure from London was overshadowed by debate over the possibility of Kevin Pietersen’s return to the side which suffered a five-nil white wash in Australia last year.
Incoming England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves had hinted at a recall for Pietersen but coach Peter Moores refused to be distracted by the issue before the squad flew out for the tour of West Indies.
“Kevin is not on this trip so I don’t need to focus on Kevin at all. I understand Kevin’s a huge subject but I don’t think we can be drawn into that,” he told a news conference on Thursday
“My focus is to support Alastair (Cook). I always support the captain and work with those 16 players to try and make sure we put the best 11 out”.
Top-order batsman Jonathan Trott returns for England for the first time since November 2013 when he left the Ashes tour due to an anxiety problem.
“The frustration for me is that people whose dreams are being made by going on this tour aren’t being mentioned,” Moores said.
“They are not getting any air time and it’s frustrating. We’ve got some very, very good players. That’s very exciting”.
Under new one-day skipper Eoin Morgan, England were woeful in the recent 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and were knocked out in the first round.
“We need to get back to winning ways,” said Cook.
“In terms of a brand of cricket it’s about trying to win this series and that’s all these 16 guys and the support staff can focus on.Everything else, the ECB, the hierarchy, have to deal with that”.
Their first warm-up comes against a St Kitts & Nevis Invitations XI at Warner Park in Basseterre on April 6 and 7 with the second on April 8 and 9.
The opening Test against the hosts West Indies is set for the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound less than a week later.
The second match of the series is scheduled for National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, starting on April 21, and the third is set for Kensington Oval in Barbados, beginning on May 1.
