Outsider transformed English game and left a golden legacy

Captain empowered players to go on the attack without fear and gained a reputation for never losing his temper

Even the timing of his retirement was spot on. Two ducks against the Netherlands is hardly a glorious exit but, by putting the team first, Eoin Morgan has selflessly given England a better chance of emulating his 2019 World Cup success.

He could have simply retired from one-day international cricket and gone on to the next T20 World Cup in Australia, ensuring a gradual handover to Jos Buttler. He retained the full backing of his players as well as a hierarchy forever grateful he won them a global trophy (there is an enormous image of Morgan lifting the World Cup in the boardroom at Lord’s).

But Morgan realised that while the mind was willing, his body and batting were no longer able. He was standing in the way of better, younger players and, in Buttler, has a deputy ready for his chance. Morgan’s departure gives Matthew Mott, the new coach, a chance to forge a relationship with Buttler in time for the World Cup defence in India next year.

His legacy is far greater than just that one thrilling day at Lord’s in July 2019. His greater achievement was upending years of conservatism to revolutionise his adopted country’s approach to one-day cricket and drag it into the modern era. Young players in county academies are now batting without limits thanks to Morgan, who retires as England’s leading ODI run-scorer with 6,957 at a strike rate of 93.

He forged his team’s culture and always put the collective first. He was ice-cool under pressure (none of his team-mates can remember him losing his temper) and created an open, welcoming team environment.

As an outsider from Dublin, who grew up playing cricket on the tarmac of his Codublin estate, he understood the importance of inclusiveness. His World Cup final team included two British Muslims – Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali – and Barbados-born Jofra Archer. All three looked comfortable and happy playing for Morgan, less so for other captains.

Morgan was accused of being stubborn, putting the Indian Premier League before county cricket at a time when such things were frowned upon, and his only real misstep was pulling out of the 2016 tour to Bangladesh after a terrorist attack in Dhaka. The threat to the team was overplayed and the captain should have been there. It was, however, an example of Morgan’s decisiveness, and generally it served him and England well, especially when he ripped up conventions after the debacle of the 2015 World Cup.

He sat down with Sir Andrew Strauss, the new director of cricket, and decided to borrow heavily from Brendon Mccullum’s New Zealand side, who had thrashed England at that tournament.

The players were allowed to develop a two-page tactical rulebook (the management wanted them to feel in charge). It was short and simple, with Morgan and analyst Nathan Leamon identifying the

Growing up playing cricket on the tarmac of his estate, he understood the value of inclusiveness

core principles. Data was used to liberate, not intimidate, with players set targets and told to beat them.

They likened building an innings to a cycling time-trial: go hard and keep going to the finish line. Attack the first powerplay. Let fine players of spin such as Morgan, Joe Root and Buttler milk the spinners in the middle overs at a run a ball, and then accelerate in the final 10 overs.

Teams were steamrolled. England scored more than 300 on 38 occasions between June 2015 and the start of the World Cup and their run rate was 6.2 (the next highest was 5.3).

“On so many occasions players would get caught out on the boundary and say, ‘Should I have got a single instead?’ But Eoin said, ‘No, next time hit it out the ground’,” Moeen said.

They also identified experience. Teams who won World Cups had an average of 70-80 caps per player.

There were 88 games between the two World Cups, so that meant picking players and sticking with them, despite setbacks such as losing in the semi-finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy. “Batsmen realised if you got picked for the series you were pretty much going to play the whole series,” assistant coach Paul Farbrace said.

Morgan enjoyed a relaxed environment. His approach to training was to do what was necessary, no more. Along with Root, the former Test captain, he introduced the team mantra of “courage, unity and respect” to players in 2018 on the tour of Sri Lanka.

Morgan consulted figures from football and rugby, including Peter Lindsay, Manchester City’s psychologist, who had read the poem This is the Place by Tony Walsh.

It celebrates Manchester’s past and a line is translated for the club’s new foreign recruits. It shows nationality does not matter in a multicultural team. Morgan wanted something similar. He wanted an emblem of his new philosophy and found it in the team’s cap, and the badge upon it.

The crown stands for taking the team forward and the three lions underneath were each given a meaning: one for courage, one for unity, one for respect.

It can sound like sentimental tosh to some, but young players introduced to the squad say they were inspired. It also set the rulebook, as Alex Hales discovered. When he stepped over the line once too often, he was dropped and never played again.

“Sit next to him or on the field, and you have never seen him lose his rag,” Moeen said. “If he needs to be firm one on one he will do it in a nice, calm way. His demeanour was the best.” Right to the end, Morgan never let it slip.