Matt Prior says Eoin Morgan must stick to his attacking instincts to turn form around
'He will have a huge amount of belief in his ability and it only takes one shot'
Friday 20 February 2015 00:01, UK
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior says Eoin Morgan must continue to trust his ability and stick to his gameplan after a run of low scores.
Morgan leads his side out against New Zealand in Wellington on Friday after a disappointing 111-run defeat to Australia in their opening game of the World Cup, a game in which Morgan was dismissed for a duck – his fourth in his last five innings.
But Prior told Sky Sports that he must not go chasing a return to form and trust his ability.
“Take away the fact that he’s captain, he’s one of the team’s matchwinners,” said Prior. “A real stand-out performer in one-day cricket.
Gameplan
“I think he needs to stick to his guns, stick to his gameplan. What you can end up doing is you start chasing your tail if you change your technique and can just go round in circles.
“He will, I’m sure, have a huge amount of belief in his ability and his technique and it takes one shot – you come in and hit a boundary early on in your innings, it can set you off.
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“Of course that’s not happening for him but he’s a very pragmatic character, very stable, very secure in himself, in his ability and ultimately he just needs a score.
“It’s not as if he’s getting out always in a particular way – he’s just having a very bad run of it. But in sport that can turn round very quickly.
“Everyone in that dressing room will be right behind him, willing him on to put in a performance. At the end of the day, England will need him to fire if they are going to progress in the World Cup.”
While the game against New Zealand isn’t make-or-break, England will be desperate to bounce back against another of the tournament’s favourites.
Stability
And Prior hopes they go into the game with a settled side, unlike the opening defeat to Australia where Gary Ballance came in for Ravi Bopara and James Taylor was moved down the order prior to the game.
“Everyone assumed it was a settled line-up just before the first game and then they changed things around but I’d be amazed if they changed too much again,” he added.
“It gets to a point where we need stability in the team, we need people to know exactly their roles.
“Even moving James Taylor from three to six – yes, he did brilliantly to get that 98 and should have got a hundred – but you need role definition and role clarity.
“It’s really important to get that stability in the line-up so I hope they don’t make more changes because we need to get to a point now where the guys know what they’re doing.”
Watch each and every game of the ICC Cricket World Cup on our dedicated channel, Sky Sports World Cup, including New Zealand v England from 12.30am on Friday.
