Eoin Morgan says England must learn quickly how to compete with the best on good pitches.
Irishman does not fancy dropping down to six
England must learn quickly how to compete with the best sides on good pitches, according to star batsman Eoin Morgan.
England crushed Sri Lanka in difficult conditions at The Oval, and then lost by 69 runs in the second ODI on a flat track at Headingley.
Next up is Lord's on Sunday and with benign conditions again expected, England need to prove themselves.
Number five batsman Eoin Morgan, who has made runs in most conditions, said: "We struggled in the World Cup on flat wickets, particularly in being that extra-bit positive with the bat.
"In effect it (Headingley) was a small step back towards where we were.
"Realising that is half the process of learning from it. We have been here before and we need to learn from it, and do something about it quickly. Otherwise we could run into problems."
Mahela Jayawardene's career-best 144 in Sri Lanka's 309-5 was the most telling difference at Headingley.
But spinners Suraj Randiv and Jeevan Mendis also took five wickets for 74 runs as England failed to stay competitive in pursuit of what would have been their highest ever successful chase. Morgan fared best with 52 off 40 balls, before he too fell to Randiv.
"Spin seems to tie us down, so that is something we have to improve - recognising we have to make that improvement as a unit rather than one or two guys going hell for leather," he said.
"It has always been a problem for England, particularly in major tournaments. Think of the last few World Cups.
"It is almost a given really when you look at county cricket that you won't see any unbelievable players of spin.
Masters
"The Indians are masters. They take the positive approach of whacking it out of the ground, between milking it around.
"We need to have a similar attitude to that, because we have shown when we have positive attitudes we normally win."
The rarity of England's ODI hundreds is a statistic cited by their critics - and new captain Alastair Cook agreed they badly needed one in Leeds.
Morgan sees things differently.
"It is not an inability to score 100s [that is losing games]," he said. "Over the past year or so, a few of the guys have got hundreds - but 80 off 75 balls will win you games.
"We have had people playing match-winning knocks, and it is not a major problem. It is not a massive thing in one-day cricket that you go out and score a hundred.
"Scoring hundreds is not something I primarily think of, playing one-day cricket."
Morgan has already proved himself a match-winner, as well as a limited-overs centurion. He believes his position at number five is ideal, and appears resistant to any suggestion he could be England's 'finisher' one spot lower down.
"I batted at six for a while, and it didn't really work out," he said. "Where I score runs, and win games, is at five. That is where I have spent most of my career. My stats at six are terrible.
"I like that familiarity of looking up at the scoreboard with us three down, with a couple of guys still to come. That gives me confidence in the game I play, rather than being cautious or in any way negative. Batting at five complements my game. It gives me extra licence."
