England left for the Caribbean on Thursday knowing they must beat the West Indies on their return to Test cricket to salvage the futures of key personnel and silence speculation that continues to swirl around Kevin Pietersen. The stakes are high for England after a disastrous World Cup and the introduction of a new ECB chairman in Colin Graves who has made it clear that jobs will be on the line in a three-Test series that begins in Antigua on April 13. Pietersen, who has rejoined Surrey in an attempt to win back his Test place, was the name on everyone’s lips at Gatwick Airport as beleaguered coach Peter Moores and returning captain Alastair Cook put on a united front ahead of a five-week tour they cannot afford to go wrong. England captain Alastair Cook faces the media at Gatwick Airport on Thursday morning . Coach Peter Moores (left) answered questions about the possible return of Kevin Pietersen . ‘Kevin’s not on this trip so I don’t have to focus on Kevin at all,’ insisted Moores, who initially lost his job as England coach after clashing with Pietersen at the end of 2008. ‘My focus is to support Alastair as captain and work with the 16 players we have here to try to make sure we play the sort of cricket people want to watch and help us win. ‘From my point of view Kevin isn’t on the radar. I can only say it so many times. He can’t be in mine nor Cooky’s focus at all. Kevin is not my decision. I have enough decisions to make already with 16 players. It is not about me getting personal. This is about focusing on an England team. ‘We have not mentioned the fact we have new players here and there is frustration for me that we have players whose dreams are being made by going on this trip and they’re not being mentioned at all. People who have worked so hard to get their chance – Adam Lyth and Mark Wood, for instance – are not being mentioned at all. I understand Kevin is a huge subject but Cooky and I can’t get drawn into that.’ Cook, who made it perfectly clear last year that he did not want Pietersen in his side again even before his bitter autobiography that appeared to sever all ties with England, concurred with his coach. Pietersen (left)  controversially celebrated Australia's World Cup win with his friends James Faulkner . Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth (centre) will get a chance to impress on the West Indies tour . ‘Contrary to what you may read in the media I’m a long way away from that decision. It’s down to Paul Downton, Tom Harrison and Colin Graves about Kevin, it’s not down to us,’ said an England captain who was dropped from the one-day side after of a World Cup where England failed to negotiate the group stage. ‘We’ve got 16 guys going to West Indies who are desperate to start turning round English cricket from what’s happened over the last three months. ‘We need to get back to winning ways and it’s about a brand of cricket and trying to win this series. It’s about 16 guys and the support staff. The ECB will have to deal with everything else.’ Cook spoke in Abu Dhabi last month where he played for MCC against Yorkshire of his anger at frustration at missing out on the World Cup. On Thursday he was more conciliatory, particularly towards the coach who dropped him. ‘I have known Mooresey for years and I love working with him,’ said Cook. ‘I have had time away and the thing I’m looking forward to most is leading England again in that first Test. From my point of view it is all about that. ‘It’s been a different couple of months to what I thought I was going to have before Christmas. Every cloud has a huge silver lining and spending three months at home has been fantastic if I’m being honest with you. Durham fast bowler Mark Wood is another new face in England's Test squad . ‘I’ve been living a normal life again which I haven’t had for a long time and it’s been great spending time with family and friends and being at home. From that point of view it’s been really refreshing and enjoyable. A lot has gone on since that last win against India at the Oval when we had three outstanding Test matches to come back from one down in that series. ‘A lot has happened since and to say we can get back straight away is going to be a challenge and it’s up to the players and the leadership to try and do that because as I say, in the last three Tests we played we played some good cricket.’ Moores would not go as far as to say he regretted the decision to drop Cook and make Eoin Morgan one-day captain ahead of the World Cup. ‘We can look back at everything. Me and Cooky have spoken and I’ve gone through a lot with Alastair. He was disappointed not to go, it didn’t work out, but we’ve got to look forward now. We can go no further than the next five weeks. ‘I really think we’ve got to keep it simple. There’s been a lot of noise around English cricket and a lot of emotion which is understandable but I think now we’ve got 16 players who are going to the West Indies under Alastair and we’ve got to go and try to play some really good cricket.’ New chairman Graves, who has heaped pressure on England by encouraging Pietersen to return to county cricket, caused another stir when he called West Indies mediocre and said there would be an inquiry if England failed to win. And Moores acknowledged that jobs are on the line in the Caribbean. Both Cook and Moores were keen to talk about the squad and not about Pietersen . ‘From my point of view it’s not about the coach. It’s about the players, it’s about winning and it’s about English cricket. We’ve got a very committed bunch of players and support staff who desperately want to win for England. So I’m going no further than the next five weeks when we’ve got three Tests against tough opposition. If we do well we’ll get some momentum going into what is a very big summer. So that’s got to be the focus, on playing the right sort of cricket because that’s what the fans want. But has he been given any assurance over his position and those of others? ‘No, it doesn’t work like that,’ said Moores. ‘I think we all know we’re in a results business. Tom Harrison and Colin Graves have come in and Tom has been great since he’s been here. For me I’m just focusing on what’s in front of us. ‘For me and Alastair it’s pretty clear. We’ve got some new players coming in and we’ve got Jonathan Trott coming back. We’ve got to make sure that the side moulds quickly. We’ve got a couple of practice games and we go straight into the Test series and we don’t need to go any further than that.’ He knows, though, that his job will probably not go any further than the West Indies if England fail to win. And Pietersen will be a constant presence in the background piling on the pressure. Experienced batsman Jonathan Trott returns to the side after suffering from situational anxiety .
England departed for West Indies tour from Gatwick on Thursday.
England will play two warm-up matches and three Tests in the Caribbean.
Captain Alastair Cook and coach Peter Moores faced media at Gatwick.
Both keen to avoid discussing Kevin Pietersen's potential return.