Alastair Cook ducks questions on Pietersen's England future

London: England captain Alastair Cook declined on Saturday to offer any assurances to mercurial batsman Kevin Pietersen about his test future.

Smarting from a 5-0 Ashes whitewash, England`s misery in Australia was not confined to the field and coach Andy Flower had to issue a statement on Wednesday denying media speculation of a rift in the dressing room. British media had earlier claimed Flower has threatened to quit if Pietersen, their leading run-scorer in the Ashes series, continued to be part of the team`s rebuilding process. South Africa-born Pietersen, 33, ruled out retirement and said he wanted to help England regain the Ashes in 2015 but Cook was non-committal about the future of England`s fourth highest test scorer of all time. "It`s only been a week since everything has happened. So what is important for me is the one day series at this precise moment of time," Cook told reporters ahead of Sunday`s one-day series opener at Melbourne. "We know that when we go home from this one-day series, a lot of important decisions on how we go forward with the test team, one day team, my future that kind of stuff." Persistently asked about Pietersen`s attitude, Cook said: "It`s very hard for me to talk to you, the media, about stuff like this. "It`s very hard and I can`t do that. Confidentiality and stuff like that means what happens in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room." Told that it did not ring as a sound endorsement for Pietersen, Cook said, "You can regard that as you want. As is always the way with the media that`s what happens." England`s Ashes campaign was badly hit when top order batsman Jonathan Trott abruptly returned home after the Brisbane opener to deal with a stress-related illness, necessitating a batting order rejig that did not click. Compounding the crisis, frontline spinner Graeme Swann quit international cricket after England had surrendered the coveted urn after a hat-trick of defeats. "Obviously when you lose a series five-nil, lot of things get thrown up and thrown in your face as the captain and you start looking at everything and it`s important that we do that," said Cook. "What also is important is it`s only been a week since everything has happened. So what is important for me is the one day series at this precise moment of time."