'I don't think any of the off-field stuff will affect the players at all'
Thursday 21 May 2015 12:08, UK
Michael Atherton says news that Jason Gillespie has been approached by England over the vacant job as head coach will not affect the players ahead of the first home Test of the summer.
England play New Zealand in the first of two Tests, starting on Thursday at Lord's, with the approach for Gillespie coming the day before.
But Atherton does not expect the timing of the announcement to have an impact.
"Everyone knows Gillespie is favourite for the job," he said. "England will talk to him and one or two other candidates as well and then they’ll make their decision.
"But I really don't think any of the off-field stuff will affect the players at all. They will be preparing for the game and all the politics behind the scenes are irrelevant to them.
"They'll be looking forward to playing cricket rather than getting to a press conference and being asked the same old nonsense."
Some of the questions the players have had to field - in particular Alastair Cook - have been about Kevin Pietersen, with Andrew Strauss saying upon his appointment as England's new director of cricket, the Surrey batsman will not be selected over 'trust issues'.
Cook has denied he gave any ultimatum on the KP issue, but Atherton believes it will not ease any of the spotlight on the captain.
"There will be a lot of focus on him," added Atherton. "He knows the spotlight is on him this summer because a lot of people around him have gone like Peter Moores and Paul Downton.
"His form was pretty good in the Caribbean and so all of this stuff in the last two weeks would have been put on the back-burner had England won in Barbados.
"They didn't of course. And if results this summer are modest, then Cook will find himself under pressure because he has been in the job a while now."
The defeat to the West Indies in Barbados saw them draw the series and ultimately cost Moores his job, despite some positive performances from the likes of Ian Bell, Joe Root and Gary Ballance - who all hit hundreds.
But Atherton feels England need to start building on those impressive individual displays to produce a complete team effort.
"They're a bit Jekyll and Hyde at the moment, which can happen with a lot of young teams," said Atherton on England. "You're just not sure which England team is going to turn up.
They (England) are a bit Jekyll and Hyde at the moment, which can happen with a lot of young teams.
"They've got a lot of talent there, a lot of promise, but equally they've been very inconsistent. So their challenge is to try and improve on that and get those players gelling as a team.
"It should be a great summer. New Zealand are a very attractive side to watch - they've got a great captain - Australia likewise. They should be a terrific seven Test Matches."
Watch the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's, live from 10am on Thursday on Sky Sports 2 (channel 403).
