I was hung out to dry on KP sacking: Cook

Former England captain Alastair Cook has opened up on the controversial sacking of star batsman Kevin Pietersen, and says he felt "hung out to dry" by English authorities.

Pietersen played his last Test in Sydney in early 2014 as England slumped to a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of a rampant Mitchell Johnson and an Australian team led by Michael Clarke.

The fallout from Pietersen's sacking dominated headlines around the England cricket team for the best part of 18 months, culminating with the batsman scoring a triple century for county side Surrey to prove his worth in the lead-up to the 2015 Ashes, only to be told by the newly appointed director of cricket Andrew Strauss he would not be picked again.

Cook this week resigned from the England captaincy after 59 Tests in charge in a four-year span. It prompted Pietersen to take to social media where he tweeted #BringBackKP.

Cook, at 32, will carry on in the England Test side as an opening batsman, but it is the presumption that he alone was responsible for the sacking of KP that still rankles.

But having set aside the Test leadership, Cook was keen to clear the air and set the record straight with former England captain Nasser Hussain, now a Sky Sports pundit.

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"It was obviously a big part of my captaincy. I felt like it wasn't handled particularly well from the ECB," Cook said of the Pietersen saga.

"I was kind of that lightning rod for it. Every person thought it was my decision, and I felt I bore the brunt of that. Unfairly in my personal opinion.

"Because as much power as you have as the England captain, you don't get the ultimate decision on that sort of thing.

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"Yes, I was part of the decision making – as six or seven others were – but I didn't have the final trigger.

"I felt as if I was the only person who made the decision. I felt a little bit let down by the ECB in that one period where they let me out to dry a little bit.

"But that's all gone now. It's part and parcel of the challenges of being captain.

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"I can't say now I have any regrets. I've tried – whether I've got it right or wrong – I've tried to do what's best for English cricket at that time.

"In every decision, whether it's to have another slip or short leg or something behind the scenes, I've always gone back to what I think is best for English cricket. That was how I lived my 59 English caps."