England captain Alastair Cook has claimed that the remarks made by Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography have "tarnished" the era of the team under Andy Flower.

The Three Lions won the Ashes three times in Flower's tenure and became the number one ranked Test side in the world, along with winning the World Twenty20 Cup.

However, Pietersen was critical of Flower's management of the team, and also claimed that he was bullied by members of the team, especially wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

Cook told BBC Sport: "I'm very proud of that era. I really only have fond memories of that, but I do believe it's kind of been tarnished and I'm sad about that.

"I think it's been a really sad week for cricket. We have to draw a line under it at some stage and this is a good time."

Pietersen also revealed that he do "anything" to return to the England side, despite being told he had no future with the team earlier this year.