Andrew Strauss has insisted that unity will not be a problem in his England team after heart-to-heart talks ahead of this week's flight to the Caribbean.

Off the field, a sport that has been in crisis in recent weeks faces more uncertainty as controversial ECB chairman Giles Clarke prepares to be challenged for a job he had expected to retain without a fight.

And the megabucks Indian Premier League also continues to cast a heavy shadow, with hopes of a compromise regarding the involvement of leading England players such as Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff once more in danger of being dashed by a hard-line approach from the subcontinent.

But for new captain Strauss the first priority is to take a committed team with him to the West Indies on Wednesday, rather than one divided into cliques by the row which cost Pietersen his job as skipper and resulted in coach Peter Moores being sacked.

It would be astonishing if there were not at least one or two hard feelings still lingering after the Pietersen-Moores bust up, and Strauss admitted: "What's happened in the last two or three weeks hasn't been ideal for English cricket, there's no doubt about that. It's been a pretty low time for everyone involved."

But he stressed during an interview with BBC Radio: "I was very reassured by the chats I've had with the players, both individually and as a group, last week. We haven't been affected particularly badly as a group by this and any divisions that were made out (to be there) were not evident at all."

No divisions? "Absolutely not," said Strauss. "I've spoken to the players individually and in the strictest confidence, and there aren't any there. In terms of a group being together I think we are pretty good, and a tour is a great way to bring people even closer together. We are in a lot better position than a lot of people think we are."

All eyes will be watching Pietersen's body language during training in St Kitts later this week but Strauss insists he has no worries on that score.

"I've talked to him a few times and I've been very, very pleasantly surprised by his attitude," said the Middlesex man. "He clearly is very passionate about playing for England for a long time.

"He has a huge commitment to not just himself doing well but the England cricket team doing well. But first and foremost he is an incredible batsman and I've got no doubts he's going to go to West Indies and score millions of runs and prove what a strong character he is as well.

"It's easy to use the world 'legend' but I think he will become a legend of the game and people like that, when their backs are against the wall, generally go out and perform. I don't see him struggling in that respect whatsoever."

Strauss will today be among 100 delegates - including former England captains such as Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Mike Atherton and Michael Vaughan - discussing the future of Test cricket at a conference in Leicestershire.

The event has been organised by the ECB, whose chairman Clarke is facing a battle for his own future.

The ECB boss is set for a bitter election campaign, with former Conservative party treasurer Lord Marland emerging as a candidate for the chairman's job.

Clarke's opponents have been desperate to find a rival before tonight's deadline for nominations and they believe Marland, a millionaire financier and MCC member, is their man. He has called Clarke's leadership "divisive" and accused him of leading the Board from "one bad decision to another."

The result of any election should be known by 10 February, with the winner starting a two-year term in April.

As for the Indian Premier League, this year's auction for new players will take place in Goa on 6 February. According to IPL boss Lalit Modi, anyone wanting to be 'bought' has to be available for a minimum of four weeks in April and May whereas England can only commit to releasing the likes of Pietersen and Flintoff for a fortnight because of the season's First Test at Lord's.

It is another recipe for trouble - and another reason why Strauss should never look further ahead than the next match.