Tiger is out to end his drought
REPORTS EOIN MORGAN has warned the bowlers humbled by Scotland on Sunday that he will not tolerate a repeat of their Edinburgh horror show against Australia today.
The England skipper is set to keep faith with the five-man attack which leaked a record-breaking 371 against the associate minnows, who lost by 48 runs to Pakistan in a T20 international last night.
Morgan’s loyalty looks set to hand David Willey, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali a chance to atone at the Oval despite fiery all-rounder Tom Curran pushing hard for inclusion.
“It’s never a good thing when you lose but you have to take the learning process from it. It’s no good losing the lesson and the game,” said Morgan ahead of the series opener.
“Our bowlers missed their lengths and lines a little bit and with the bat we didn’t play as good as we would have liked. We were simply off our game on a small ground.
“But is it a concern? On a really flat wicket on a small ground, no. If it had been at the Oval, yes. And if it happens twice or three times in this series, yes we would [be concerned].”
With less than 12 months to go before the start of a World Cup on home soil, Morgan needs a solid return to form of his bowling unit, albeit one shorn of the talents of Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes.
And while it comes against an Australia side missing their two best batsmen in Steve Smith and David Warner as well as injured fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, Morgan conceded they will face a tough examination.
At stake is not only first blood against an Australia side looking to take some big steps away from the unedifying ball-tampering scandal, but also England’s No1 ranking.
Having only climbed to the top of the pile on May 2, defeat would see that crown slip from their heads after just six weeks.
“I’m expecting a tough series,” said Morgan. “Every time we have played Australia they have played tough, hard cricket so we will expect that.
“And for all that people have talked about weakened sides, what they fail to realise is that it is the opportunity for guys coming through their side.
“With one eye on the World Cup next year you have a lot of young, hungry guys who probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity six months ago when they were playing domestic cricket and wondering how they were going to get into the team.
“This is now their opportunity to make their mark, and we are very aware of that.”
Australia and England will exchange public handshakes before today’s match after a request by new Aussie captain Tim Paine, who took over from Smith in March.
The England skipper said he was happy to accede to Paine’s request if TIGER WOODS hopes to find the missing piece of the jigsaw at Shinnecock Hills this week to claim a first win since his latest comeback and end a 10-year victory drought in the Majors.
Woods won the last of his 14 Major titles at the 2008 US Open but having recovered from a career-threatening back injury and off-course problems, he has missed just one cut in nine events in 2018.
“I had no expectation I could actually be here again,” said Woods ahead of the US Open, which starts tomorrow. “This time last year I was just given the OK to start walking again.
“A lot of this is a pure bonus because of where I was. To be here is a great feeling and one I don’t take for granted.
“I have given myself chances to win which I did not know I was ever going to do again, but also I’m not happy with the fact that I didn’t win. Of the tournaments