Strauss has set us free to be wild and reckless
Eoin Morgan on England’s brave new one-day world
Sportsmen try not to look back, but for eoin morgan the rear-view mirror is a useful reminder of a world he intends never to revisit.
As england’s limited- overs captain laid waste to the Australian bowlers in monday’s twenty20 international in Cardiff, it was strange to think that it had been only five months since he cut such a disconsolate figure at the World Cup.
now, morgan has the team he wants — and is playing under coaches who understand the tempo and tactics of the one-day game. As england prepare for their five-match royal London one- day series against Australia starting in southampton tomorrow, he is urging his team to aim high.
‘I touched on it before we started the one- dayers against new Zealand — how we want to be perceived and how it’s sometimes going to look,’ he said.
‘It might look reckless and wild but I’d rather err on that side as opposed to reserved. For years we’ve played reserved cricket and tried to contain ourselves. We’ve looked at other teams — Yuvraj singh’s done this or rohit sharma’s peeled off a double hundred. Why can’t it be us?’
to hear morgan’s enthusiasm and ambition is to wince at the way in which english cricket allowed the one-day game to melt away for more than two decades following the 1992 World Cup when they reached the final.
Just when it looked as if they could not stoop any lower, england were knocked out of this year’s tournament in Australia and new Zealand at the group stage — a performance that would ultimately cost peter moores his job as coach.
‘ We’d almost reached the lowest we could have been,’ said morgan, who had been handed the captaincy at the last minute after the sacking of Alastair Cook. It is to the credit of director of cricket Andrew strauss that morgan did not get the axe, too.
‘straussy was a big part in saying “We’re choosing you as captain, you get a free rein in what you want to do” — as opposed to saying you should do this and that.’
It is as explicit a criticism of moores as morgan allows himself — although he pointedly describes the World Cup, in which his own form evaporated and england batted like maiden aunts at a warehouse rave, as a ‘waste of time’.
And yet the World Cup was also the genesis of his determination to lead a team capable of competing with the world’s big-hitting best — a process that began in spectacular style in June when england racked up 408 for nine against new Zealand at edgbaston. ‘We all came back from the World Cup saying, “Jesus, everyone’s playing a different game from us”. We played the same way we’d been playing for a long time and trying to change that is difficult. Hopefully the new Zealand series was the start of that.’ morgan’s vision extends beyond the field of play. He is a big advocate of rest and recuperation, having taken a month off before the Cardiff match to clear his mind and reconnect with the buccaneering style that lit up england’s 3-2 win over the new Zealanders. His 39- ball 74 on monday, including seven sixes, suggested he had timed his return to perfection.
And, as strauss continues to place an unprecedented emphasis on the two shorter formats, morgan believes england’s traditional obsession with test cricket will no longer dominate all else.
‘Guys will be taking test matches off in the lead-up to twenty20 matches or a Champions trophy,’ he said. ‘that is definitely a change straussy has brought in and I’m grateful for it.’
MORGAN is also dismissive of the idea that county cricket can match the glamour of the IPL — of which he has always been an advocate — if it insists on an 18-team twenty20 competition.
He said: ‘If you want to get the most out of the talent we have for the benefit of english cricket, it would have to be between eight to 10 teams because the scheduling has an impact on the quality of cricket we play.’
part of his attraction is his willingness to speak uncomfortable truths to a system that has not always been keen to listen. And he will have no problem keeping his one- day side on their toes as england seek to build towards the 2017 Champions trophy and the 2019 World Cup — both being staged in this country.
‘It’s important to keep pushing the boundaries as to how well we can play,’ he said. ‘the one- day series against new Zealand was a great template for the way we want to play our cricket.
‘If we fail playing that way, I’ll be happy to fail, because we’ll have learned along the way. But if guys can’t play in that way it’ll be a case of chopping and changing to get guys in who can. that’s the way the game is going.’
A memo, then, to england fans: buckle up for the ride.
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