Eoin thrilled to welcome back world-beating trio
ENGLAND captain Eoin Morgan is delighted to welcome back three game-changers as his side look to take down the world’s best one-day side at Headingley and begin building momentum for the Champions Trophy.
The summer schedule began with two one-day internationals against Morgan’s native Ireland, games which key trio Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler were excused in favour of extending their stay at the Indian Premier League.
With only the three-match Royal London Series against the top-ranked South Africans standing between England and their latest bid for a first global 50-over trophy, on home soil, the hosts are back at full strength and looking for a major scalp today.
Stokes and Buttler, who represented Rising Pune Supergiant and Mumbai Indians respectively, might have gone head to head in Sunday’s final had they not been summoned back to an England training camp in Spain, and both have spoken effusively about the benefits of competing in the sub-continental extravaganza.
“It’s a huge benefit having three match-winners come back into the team having watched them contribute so much to the IPL,” said Morgan.
“Ben Stokes comes back as the competition’s MVP and it’s great to see him performing so well in what is the biggest domestic tournament in the world.
“Jos is one of the best in the world as well and Chris has been an important part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ road to the final stages.
“To have those guys back in the side is a huge boost.”
Their return, not just to the squad but the starting XI, means others will be edged out including the in-form Jonny Bairstow. The Yorkshire wick- etkeeper-batsman has been in superlative form across the formats for well over a year and made 72 not out in the second ODI against Ireland at Lord’s.
Nevertheless, England appear happy with a settled XI and Bairstow could be the odd one out for the majority of the white-ball summer.
“Everyone is fit and raring to go so it’s a bit of a luxury we have in selection, we can probably make two or three changes and still be strong which is a good position to be in,” said Morgan. “The talent we have in the squad is unbelievable.” While Morgan is toasting the return of key performers, opposite number AB de Villiers is facing a very different experience on these shores. While his best XI remremains one of the most cocompetitive in the world, the depth of the squad has been hit by a spate of players ssigning awaway their intinternational prospprospects for more lucrative ‘Kolpak’ deals in county cricket.
While De Villiers and company hunt down silverware the likes of Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Dane Vilas, Stiaan van Zyl and David Wiese are all competing domestically in the shires.
“It’s part and parcel of what we are confronted with in recent times,” said a phlegmatic De Villiers.
“We can’t stop guys from going where they want to and playing where they want to play.
“It’s really important for us as a team to focus on what we’re dealing with now, which is a big series, and we’ve no reason not to be confident,” he added.
“We’ve beaten Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand recently so we’re confident.
“We’re not harping too much on what we’ve lost because we’d rather focus on what we’ve gained in the last few months.
“Yes we’ve lost quite a few players in the last few months, which is not good for our depth, but there’s nothing you can do about that.”
De Villiers missed both of his first warm-up matches, against Sussex and Northamptonshire, with flu.
But he is set to take the field in Leeds having rated himself “95 per cent fit”.
Eoin Morgn Ben comes back as the competition’s MVP, Jos is one of the best in the world as well and Chris has been important.