Hero Morgan refuses to commit to England future

EOIN MORGAN left open the possibility he will retire from international cricket on the high of winning the World Cup when he said yesterday he needed more time to consider his future.

England’s World Cupwinning captain was back at Lord’s to receive a silver cap from ECB chairman Colin Graves and cited a back injury as the reason he has not confirmed if he will play on towards next year’s twenty20 World Cup.

‘I need more time to think,’ said Morgan, 32. ‘It’s a big decision, a big commitment. Given the injury I went through in the World Cup, I need time to get fully fit.’

Morgan suffered a back spasm in England’s World Cup win over West Indies and even though he played throughout the tournament and has made four twenty20 appearances for Middlesex since then, he pulled out of their game against Sussex last week.

‘It’s my back,’ Morgan told the BBC. ‘I need the season to end pretty soon so I can have time to get fit and guarantee I’m not an injury risk between this year and next. then I’ll be able to make a call on it.’

England want Morgan to continue and are confident he will once he has rested that troublesome back.

the team’s next limitedovers cricket starts on November 1 with a five-match t20 series in New Zealand, while they will not play any 50-over games until February on tour in South Africa.

‘Absolutely, who wouldn’t?’ said Morgan when asked if he wanted to lead England at the t20 World Cup in Australia. ‘But I don’t want to let anyone down. When you lead you have to be physically fit.’