Eoin Morgan trains ahead of the Sri Lanka T20s
(Picture: Getty Images)England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan has defended tweets he and vice-captain Jos Buttler sent three years ago, saying they were taken out of context and were, in fact, a sign of respect.
After racist and sexist tweets by bowler Ollie Robinson emerged on his first day as a Test cricketer, Morgan and Buttler were among the England players accused of insensitive social media activity in years gone by.
The pair appeared to mock Indian fans’ use of English, particularly by overusing the word “sir” in tweets from 2017 and 2018. The England and Wales Cricket Board are now investigating old tweets sent by its players.
Morgan gave questions on the issue short shrift today.
“I don’t really reflect on it a lot,” he said. “I find it, if I call somebody sir on social media, or anywhere around the world, it’s a sign of admiration and respect. If that’s taken out of context there’s nothing I can control or do about it, so I haven’t actually looked into it.”
Morgan expects to have Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan fit for tomorrow’s opening T20 against Sri Lanka in Cardiff after the Yorkshire duo were struggling with injury. He is without Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer through injury and will not name a team until the toss, however.
“Both are fit as of five minutes ago when I walked off the training ground, so hopefully available for selection tomorrow,” he said of Bairstow and Malan.
