REFRESHED MORGAN SET TO BAT ON
Skipper aims for 2023 World Cup
EOIN MORGAN says lockdown has left him feeling fresher than ever and even contemplating staying on to defend England’s World Cup crown in 2023.
The white-ball captain had previously committed only to the next two T20 World Cups in October this year and next autumn in India.
But with the cricket calendar including the first of those likely to be shifted en masse back a year, Morgan says he has started thinking of leading the 50-overs defence.
“A lot of that is going to be dependent on my body,” said Morgan, who will be 36 by then.
“When you talk about last year’s World Cup and just about getting through, like just about getting over the line, physically, I had a little hiccup with my back.
“If my back continues to get better, yes, that could be a chance. If it continues to deteriorate, you can’t look past the T20 World Cups.”
The ICC will today debate the fate of this year’s T20 World Cup, scheduled for Australia in October and November. And with India pushing for a window for the postponed IPL13, a deferment looks likely. Morgan believes that is the probable outcome.
He said: “If you look at how Australia has handled the pandemic, they’ve shut down the borders pretty early, had a limited number of cases and deaths in comparison to the rest of the world. Their biggest worry moving forward would be they almost don’t know what the immunity would be like if the virus does have an outbreak.
“Having 16 teams across eight venues has the potential to expose something. When you look at how quickly it escalates, deferring it or postponing is probably a bigger positive.”
Morgan conceded the outcome of ICC deliberations and a congested international summer will impact the make-up of his white-ball sides.
“In September we will try to get close to our strongest team provided the World Cup is still in the same place, but if it’s not we could still look to expand on that squad of players,” he added.
“For guys playing three formats, it’s unreasonable to expect all of those players to play every game.”
Stars such Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Jofra Archer will focus on red-ball cricket and there will be a more experimental approach to the limited-overs squads.