Eoin backs his shock troops
EOIN MORGAN admits even he has been surprised by his one- day side’s spectacular transformation this summer.
From the depths of a winter that culminated in a humiliating fi rst- round exit from the World Cup, England have reinvented themselves as a vibrant, attacking team who appear capable of beating anyone on their day.
Morgan’s men have not looked back since beating New Zealand in the opening ODI of the home summer at Edgbaston, a game in which they posted their fi rst 400- plus score in 50- over cricket.
They went on to seal a thrilling 3- 2 series victory against the World Cup fi nalists, doing so with a new group of young, dynamic players who have captured the public’s imagination.
England have since followed that up with a pair of Twenty20 victories against New Zealand and Australia.
Now, ahead of the start of a fi ve- match Royal London oneday series against Australia in Southampton today, Morgan has admitted his shock at the team’s rapid progression.
“Has it surprised me? Yes, absolutely,” he said. “The development of the side in that one- day series against New Zealand has been brilliant.
“It is down to the players. Everybody has played their natural game, the way they have for their county.
“Even in the T20 game the other day, we managed to continue the aggressive nature in which we played both with ball and bat.
“That summed up the mindset we need going forward. We hope we’ll be able to continue it throughout the rest of the summer.”
As world champions, Australia will be England’s toughest test to date. But Morgan admits it presents an exciting opportunity to complete a memorable double against this year’s two World Cup fi nalists.
“It would be great,” he said. “It’s going to be very tough. We’ll need to be close to our best to beat them. It will be a really good test against one of the best teams in the world.”
Morgan has also looked a man transformed from the reticent, burdened fi gure who presided over England’s World Cup failure at the start of the year. “My performance as captain is coming along and I’m having a lot more time to get my thoughts across,” he said. “We’re seeing a bit more of me as a captain and I’m learning along the way.”
One change England have contemplated for this one- day series has been promoting the recalled Moeen Ali to open alongside Alex Hales, ahead of Jason Roy. But although Morgan refused to confi rm his team for today’s match, he gave every indication the opening pair would remain unchanged.
For Australia, Ashton Agar could make his one- day debut in Southampton. The 21- year- old spinner, left, made a spectacular start to international cricket when he scored 98 in the fi rst Test of the 2013 Ashes at Trent Bridge, and captain Steve Smith admitted Agar could play his fi rst game for Australia since that series today.