England 4-1 Pakistan: Eoin Morgan hails exceptional summer
Monday 5 September 2016 06:06, UK
Captain Eoin Morgan could still reflect on England's "exceptional" summer of one-day international cricket despite missing out on a series whitewash over Pakistan following a four-wicket defeat at Cardiff.
England's first defeat in white-ball cricket this summer arrived with the series already well and truly won, as Pakistan chased down 302-9 with 10 balls to spare.
It meant England were unable to claim a first-ever 5-0 home ODI series success, but it was only a minor setback in a summer that has seen England set a new record score and just as significantly continued to take strides forward in the 50-over format.
"(I am) absolutely delighted and proud of this group of players," Morgan told Sky Sports 2.
"I think we've been exceptional throughout the summer. The things we identified before this series were consistency and being ruthless in performance after performance. We've done that.
"We've lost the game today, but we've still put in a reasonable performance. The level of highs, Trent Bridge is the highest level we've achieved yet.
"Things are really, really exciting. The guys are hungry to learn more and want to win games of cricket."
England made three changes at the SSE Swalec, with spinner Liam Dawson drafted in for his debut.
Morgan admitted that move was made with a view to the winter tours to Bangladesh and India, and denied it was a sign of complacency.
"No, absolutely not," he said. "I thought it was a great opportunity to get Liam Dawson on to the international stage in one-day cricket with one eye towards the winter.
"If we do call upon him, if we need three spinners or if somebody goes down, then he has a game under his belt and feels more at ease in the environment."
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain said the selectors have a difficult balance to strike.
"You want to win and get the whitewash because that will breed confidence but you also want to rest people as there is a lot of white-ball cricket coming up in the next year," he said.
"You want to make sure that people are given enough caps so if there is an injury the likes of Jordan and Dawson can play and not feel like they haven't played for years.
"I was surprised there were three changes. I'd have played Rashid as he is someone who needs to keep bowling.
"Dawson did alright, they just played him and went after him very well. It was very clear what Pakistan were trying to do. The moment Dawson came on they were going to go after him."
Watch highlights of the fifth and final one-day international between England and Pakistan at 10pm on Sky Sports 2. Don't miss the only Twenty20 International in the Super Series - that's live this Wednesday from 6pm on Sky Sports 1.
