Morgan hopes weather won’t rain on his parade
Eoin Morgan has admitted inclement conditions are causing selection headaches ahead of England’s ICC Champions Trophy clash with New Zealand in Cardiff today.
England go into the clash at the Cardiff Wales Stadium (10.30am start) as favourites, having beaten Bangladesh by eight wickets in their tournament opener at The Oval.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was dropped at the eleventh hour for that clash and after heavy rain in the Welsh capital yesterday, captain Morgan is again unsure about the balance of his side.
England have been hampered by injuries to Chris Woakes – whose tournament was ended by a side strain – and Ben Stokes, though the latter is expected to bowl against the Black Caps.
“We don’t (have an idea of the team), probably less than ever because the wicket has been under SSE SWALEC STADIUM 10.30am ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND covers and will continue to be,” said Morgan at his pre-match press conference, expressing concerns about a pitch that has been covered due to persistent rain.
And though the weather is set to improve, Morgan will wait until the last moment to make a decision on his team.
He added: “What looked like a good pitch might change under a hot sweaty cover so we’ll have to see.
“I think the match up against New Zealand will affect the team we select, and if the wicket is as fair as we hope it’s going to be, we’ll try to match up against New Zealand instead of looking at conditions.”
Paceman Steven Finn is among Morgan’s options having been drafted in to replace Woakes in England’s 15-man squad. Finn could join Stokes, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood and David Willey in a five-man English seam attack if Rashid is again omitted.
Morgan is keen to see the best from Finn, whose tendency to concede runs kept him out of the initial squad.
“We want to see more of what we saw (from Finn) in the West Indies,” added Morgan.
“Steven showed what he could do in that tour, there wasn’t a lot on offer in the pitch in games he played. But certainly coming in, bowling fast and hitting the wickets hard were the values he showed.
“I would have no hesitation in playing him if we felt that was the right thing to do.”
As far as explosive all-rounder Stokes is concerned, the England camp are hopeful he can get through a significant number of overs to lift the burden on the rest of the attack.
“I think we’re nearly there,” Morgan said of Stokes’ knee injury which restricted the Durham man to batting duties and a limited amount of bowling.
“He’s had no pain in five days so if that continues, there’s a chance he could bowl 10 overs.”
New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill, meanwhile, was keen for his teammates to continue the good form shown in their tournament opener against Australia.
The Black Caps reduced their bitter rivals to 53/3 in pursuit of 291 and looked set for possible victory when rain caused an abandonment at Edgbaston on Friday.
“We did some very good things in that last game and it was unfortunate that the rain came when he did,” said an optimistic Guptill.
“We can’t control the weather but we’ll take the positives going into this one.
“It’s a very much new-look England side in the last couple of years and it’s going to be exciting.”