Cook 'frustrated' by 'inability' to reveal 'reasons' behind Pietersen's sacking

England Test captain Alastair Cook has said that he is 'frustrated' at his inability to reveal the reasons behind controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen's sacking from international cricket, although he vowed that they would become clear 'soon'.

Despite being England's leading run scorer across all formats, South Africa-born Pietersen was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in February following the team's 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.

According to Sport24, Cook was unable to shed any fresh light on exactly why Pietersen was sent into international exile, with seemingly no hope of return, saying that he is in a frustrating position of not being able to reveal the reasons behind Pietersen's sacking at this time and implored people to respect his silence.

However, Cook said that at the risk of being called 'sitting at the fence, he believes the reasons will become clearer soon, although he admitted that the 'Pietersen issue' would not go away until England addressed it full on.

The report mentioned that the ECB has still left unanswered the question of what precisely Pietersen had done in Australia to deserve such drastic treatment, with some in the England hierarchy saying confidentiality reasons prevented them from speaking out more fully.