Morgan won’t duck problem
PETER MOORES says England’s humbling opening defeat at the hands of Australia has given him multiple causes for concern .
But the coach was insistent that the form of his captain Eoin Morgan was not one of them.
Morgan’s fourth duck in his past fi ve innings and third consecutive blob against Australia, following two in the Tri- Series, was not the sole reason for England’s woeful showing at the MCG, where they went down by 111 runs.
As Morgan himself admitted, they were “outplayed in every department” .
But the fact remains that he needs a score to lift the monkey off his back before it grows into King Kong given that his predecessor in the job, Alastair Cook, was ditched on account of his lack of runs.
“Eoin will be as frustrated as everybody at getting out,” said Moores. “He wants a score. As a leader, he wants to get runs at key moments in the middle order.
“But he handles himself well. He is practising and doing everything in the right way. ”
Morgan has the experience of 136 ODIs to call on ( 23 of them for Ireland) but he has not spent much time at the crease this winter. Since the start of the Sri Lanka tour in November, he has batted 12 times and averaged 17.75.
Comparisons with Cook were unhelpful , so Moores said. He added: “There’s one difference: for Alastair it was over time; for Eoin, you’re going back less than a month since he scored a brilliant hundred at Sydney.”
Morgan was brilliant that day but there is no doubt he needs to be able to lead from the front at this World Cup for all that Moores maintained his poor run had no effect on his leadership of the team.
“This does not undermine him at all. Eoin is not a bloke who is going to hide from this: he knows he has to perform . He has been through periods where it hasn’t worked and come out the other side.”
England moved to Wellington yesterday and will be glad to leave Australia behind them for the time being, although the welcome they receive here could be every bit as hostile at the Westpac Stadium on Friday, when they tackle New Zealand.
High on the list of Moores, assistant coach Paul Farbrace and bowling specialist David Saker will be how to get their men to negotiate the fi nal 10 overs without giving away the game .
There was a damning statistic doing the rounds after England leaked 105 runs off the last 10 overs against Australia, namely that only Zimbabwe have a worse runs- per- over record at the death since 2012.
Tightening things up will be a pre- requisite before they face the Kiwis. And bowling more yorkers and fewer slower, shortpitched balls would be a start.
For a team that practise so much bowling under Saker’s ‘ yorker bar’ – a scaffolding pole on bricks placed on the popping crease that they have to pitch under – they do not use the tactic much in matches.
Moores said: “The yorker is a really good ball. Have we underused it? Yes, we have. ”
Moores correctly pointed to the overs preceding them and more specifi cally the lack of wickets in the middle period of the match as the reason why England are getting hammered in the closing 10.
From 70- 3 after 10.3 overs, England allowed Australia to steadily rebuild to a platform of 237- 5 going into the last 60 balls. Against New Zealand, they will not get away with such generosity.