‘IT HASN’T SUNK IN HOW BIG THIS HAS BEEN’
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ENGLAND CAPTAIN MORGAN ON THAT WORLD CUP WIN
EOIN MORGAN is back at Lord’s and he is still smiling. England are World Cup winners and not even the captain can explain exactly how.
“You know that thing that happens at weddings, when you laugh so hard and are smiling all day, then you wake up with sore ribs,” he says. “That’s what I have had since then.”
Morgan looked the calmest person around as the chaos unfolded eight days ago. As Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler nudged England back into the game, he sat on the balcony, inscrutably trying to influence the game any which way he could.
It was only when the game was done and the celebrations were in full flow that he finally abdicated some responsibility. Pointing at the trophy, he laughs: “I had to get rid of that after the game, I didn’t want the responsibility!”
Morgan thinks his public persona — a calm, collected enigma — is an accurate representation of a man few outside his bubble can claim to know.
“I always try to stay methodical and logical with everything I do, playing cricket and making decisions,” he says. “It suits my character. I’ve always been like that. I’m trying to make a plan, take the game forward. Although I’m probably not as miserable as I look.”
Morgan arrived at Lord’s on the eve of the final and realised that, for his players, winning or losing that match was not everything. Almost everyone is a senior player and accept and understand each other.
Most of all, they play cracking cricket and Morgan accepts that, while this chapter has ended, the foundations are laid for sustained success.
“There is definitely a feeling of a release, that our four-year journey is over,” he says. “There will be another one, but certainly this segment is done. Culturally, we tried to start something that will be around a while, so when people ask what the England team are about there will be a clear answer: they have values and I will encourage my son or daughter to play because of what they are about.
“The foundations that have been laid, the level of expectation that has been created — with good reason — around the players and team, there’s no reason we can’t be an Australia or India, who go to every tournament as favourites, joint-favourites or second favourites. We want to be the team that, for the next however long, has changed whatever’s gone before.”
Morgan’s team have been praised as an inclusive, ethnically diverse team that represents modern Britain.
That is an assessment he believes holds true, citing Adil Rashid informing him that Allah was on their side in the final.
“I think it is [a team for everyone],” he said. “Everyone in that changing room has a different background and can express themselves. Some grew up in South Africa, I was in Dublin. For Adil to feel comfortable about talking about that at that moment is important.”
Morgan, himself, has learnt much about other cultures, particularly Islam, from his team. “A big part of Adil and Mo’s [Moeen Ali] summer, and one we have to be very aware of, is Ramadan,” he says. “Sometimes they fast during games, sometimes they don’t and make up time later on. It’s important that we understand that, and they feel comfortable talking about it.”
Morgan was deeply moved by a video of Rashid returning to Bradford, where he was mobbed when heading to his uncle’s shop and, like many of his teammates, has spent the last week catching up with footage on social media.
When asked if he thought the game could have such an impact on the nation, he says: “Never, never. The videos from Trafalgar Square — I literally couldn’t believe it. I never thought it could be that big.
“Everywhere I go, people are stopping me with a story about watching the game or wanting to take up cricket or know more about it. It’s unbelievable.
“When we walked through the Long Room for the anthems it was more like a rugby match, where you’re preparing to go out and hammer somebody. It was like the Ryder Cup, where everyone goes nuts on the first tee.”
Now, he says, it is up to the players to keep the buzz for the game going. Early Vitality Blast attendances, such as the 27,450 who watched Morgan parade the trophy at Lord’s last Thursday, suggest that the World Cup has created a mighty appetite for the game. “The players have a big role to play, both selling the brand of cricket that we play and the values we embody while playing,” he says. “The ECB, too, by giving people a platform to take advantage of that impulse of watching something great and wanting to be involved.”
What next for Morgan? A holiday first, then a return to Middlesex colours in the Blast on August 1, the day the Ashes begin. Will he play for England again?
“I’m not under pressure to make a decision,” he says. “Whatever decision I make will, hopefully, be the best one for the team and myself. The last four years has taken a huge amount out of me. To commit to either another four years or even another year for the T20 World Cup is a big commitment. Once I’m out of the bubble, I’ll make a decision.”
That is classic Morgan: every avenue explored.
Everywhere I go, people are stopping me with a story about watching the game or wanting to take up cricket I’m not under any pressure to make a decision about my England future, but whatever one I make will, hopefully, be the best one for the team and myself