England’s stuttering performance in ODI cricket during the past few months has seen criticism levelled at Peter Moores. But Eoin Morgan has offered a strong endorsement of the head coach’s credentials, describing him as “awesome” as the team prepare for their match against Sri Lanka here in Wellington on Sunday.
The team has struggled with inconsistency in selection, and Alastair Cook was stood down as captain following an unsuccessful tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas, at a time when it seemed certain he would lead England into the World Cup.
Morgan replaced him but this campaign got off to a disastrous start with heavy defeats handed out by Australia in Melbourne and New Zealand in Wellington, a match that lasted around half the allotted overs in total, before the first win was gained against Scotland in Christchurch.
But Morgan feels that Moores is unfairly portrayed. “He has been awesome since he has come in,” the captain insisted. “He has been different to anyone I have worked with before, different to Andy Flower and Ashley Giles. He brings a lot of energy to the side and a lot of ideas. The basis around international cricket is trying to be one step ahead of the game, particularly in the culture of trying to find the little edges here and there without taking the basics away and I think he has done that since he has been involved.”
Morgan, who cut his international teeth playing for Ireland and represented them in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, also offered strong support for the associate nations, who as things stand will be largely excluded from the 2019 competition in England. So far, each of Ireland, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan have acquitted themselves wonderfully, with Ireland beating West Indies, and the two best contested and closest matches coming between Ireland and UAE and Scotland and Afghanistan. On a relative shoestring, they are playing to a much higher standard than in previous tournaments.
“ I think it would be a terrible shame if they were not included in future,” Morgan said. “Part of playing in the World Cup should be to spread the good word of the game and again the more teams we can have playing, within reason, in the big competitions, the more exposure it gets in their home nations, and the more exposure they get against the bigger sides.”
The England captain has also defended his decision not to sing the national anthem before matches at the World Cup. “It’s pretty simple. I’ve never sung the national anthem whether I’ve played for Ireland or England,” he said. “It doesn’t make me any less proud to be an English cricketer. I’m extremely proud to be in the position I am in and privileged to be captain of a World Cup side.”
When asked to expand on why he did not sing ‘God Save the Queen’, Morgan added: “It’s a long story. It’s a personal thing.”
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