WE CAN LIFT NATION AGAIN
Morgan already knows the joy a winning team can generate
FEW people can have better personal experience of sport’s ability to lift the nation than Eoin Morgan.
But the World Cup-winning captain insisted the return of sport can provide a lift for the whole world.
It cannot come soon enough for Morgan, who believes cricket should plan ahead for a resumption behind closed doors if needs be.
Morgan, asked how it might feel to play in front of empty stands, raised a smile when he said: “I’ve played county cricket for a long time. That’s exactly the same!”
However it comes back into people’s lives, whether through TV, radio or print, it cannot return quickly enough for the England one-day captain.
He said: “Very rarely, certainly in my life, are there opportunities where industries are actually missed a huge amount, but we are going through one of those at the moment.
“Sport can play a huge role in uplifting the world and people’s perspective. Isolation encourages idle minds and sport can create theatre and that level of expectation around what it’s like to be outside again.
“It would be a huge step forward. Can it boost the nation’s morale? I think it can.” Morgan included all the caveats about more important battles being fought worldwide and greater sacrifices being made by workers than cricketers.
But the signpost to normality that sport can send to a nation in lockdown should not be underestimated, according to Morgan.
The ECB said this week they are in discussions, along with other sports, with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport about what would be a “bio-safe environment” in the event of a relaxation in the lockdown.
And while the international season could begin on time behind closed doors – with West Indies set to play the first Test early in June – the likelihood is for a much later start to the season.
Morgan admits that a condensed season could even see red-ball and white-ball teams deployed at different grounds on the same day later this summer.
He said: “I see every option being viable during this extraordinary time.
“Certainly I have never experienced anything like it and I don’t think anyone else has.
“The serious nature of the situation – economically and financially for the game – is something that we have never come across.
“And certainly, from a player’s point of view, we want to do as much as we can to try and keep things going.
“If there is an opportunity to play as much cricket as we can, I would like to think every player would be behind it. I certainly am.”