World Cup: Eoin Morgan says the senior players must step-up after England’s heavy defeat to Australia
Says his own form must improve after another duck in defeat to Australia
Saturday 14 February 2015 20:06, UK
Eoin Morgan has urged England’s senior players to stand-up and lead from the front after their heavy 111-run defeat to Australia in their opening game of the World Cup.
Morgan’s men were convincingly beaten at the MCG in Melbourne and next head to Wellington on Friday to face the equally daunting task of an in-form New Zealand side who beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs in their opener.
World Cup Cricket Verdict
“It doesn’t make or break our tour,” Morgan told Sky Sports. “Our main aim is obviously to get to the quarter-finals, but our first two games are probably our most difficult of the group stages.
“If we keep testing ourselves against the best sides and learning as the tour progresses, hopefully we'll hit our straps by then.
Lead
“The senior players have got to stand up, myself included, and lead the way from the front.”
Morgan had another disappointing outing personally, recording his third straight duck against Australia, and his fourth in his last five innings on tour.
One bright spark was the performance of James Taylor who was left stranded on 98 in unfortunate circumstances with James Anderson run out when a dead ball should have been called.
He was batting at six to make way for the inclusion of Gary Ballance (who replaced Ravi Bopara) at three.
“James [Taylor] was unlucky at the end not to get a hundred as he struck the ball very cleanly,” added Morgan.
“Throughout the tri-series I felt that in particular on these wickets that Ravi’s bowling would be utilised but we didn’t find that was the case, even in the two warm-up games we played.
Firing
“So it was a straight shoot-out [between Bopara and Ballance] and we felt Ballance, batting at three – given the year he’s had – it was a good opportunity to get him in now in our top seven. But we needed all guns firing and the top order to come off for us to chase 340.
“I think 310 was probably par even though the wicket was very good but our fielding was poor and our death bowling not on target at times.”
England dropped century-maker Aaron Finch on nought and once again performed poorly at the death, conceding 105 runs from the final 10 overs as they often bowled too short – although Steven Finn did take a hat-trick with the final three balls of the innings.
It has been a constant problem for the side of late, with them boasting the second-worst economy rate in ODI cricket since 2012, with only Zimbabwe conceding more.
“It was a pre-determined plan [to bowl shorter] as due to playing at the MCG where the straight boundary is 65 metres and the square boundaries are 85 metres,” said Morgan.
“It stops you scoring runs here if you do it well and it brings in a wicket-taking options but we didn’t execute it as well as we’d have liked.”
Watch highlights of England’s game with Australia at 5pm, and 9pm on Sky Sports World Cup on Saturday. Plus, for analysis of the match, watch The Verdict, at 6pm and 10pm on the same channel.
