by sussexpob » Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:25 pm
Its going to sound like an insult, but I think the best thing Morgan brought to his role as captain was to take a back seat and trust the quality of his side to speak for itself. I neither get the impression of him as being an inspirational leader, nor of a great tactician in the field - England haven't been a notably good fielding team in their period of recent success. Yet, I think that is what England needed. He might have been quiet and unassuming, but he also carried an air of unmistakable authority about him. He didn't need to read the riot act to get his players in line. He just realised he had a special team, and made sure those players had the support to go out and play in the style they did. If you get bowled out for 100, who cares... we go for 400 everytime. That's how you win World Cup's.... you have to be prepared and setup to beat the strongest sides. You'd assume that didnt need saying, but this is England in ODIs... when Morgan took over, they were still 30 years behind India and Australia.
But its not only as Captain that Morgan changed English cricket, really it was with the bat in hand he did that. When he arrived in an English shirt all those years back, there was a fear and suspicion that players who went to score runs at high run rates couldn't bat for long enough to win games. Morgan changed that - he smacked you around, and he made big contributions. The culture of fear in English cricket was so toxically implanted in the system of selection and management, it took a player like Morgan for people to believe in the type of players he was. If Morgan had last 5 games, we'd probably be lining up our test XI still now.
And my god, at his peak how good was he? Those wristy hockey shots he'd play cross batted, his ability to reverse the hands, those flicks off his pads he'd put into the stands, or the straightforward clubbing into the offside after giving himself room - part brutal, part creative genius, part audacious, part gracious. There was a period where KPs ODI form failed that Morgan was the only person you tuned into watch.... the only person who could save the innings after a Jonathan Trott 100 ball 50.
Maybe he had more worth as a test player. In hindsight, he performed a lot better than some who continued to replace him. He had a habit of planting that front foot across his stumps, but maybe a bit of coaching could have changed that.... maybe not.
All in all, he's been a delightful player to watch in an England shirt over the years, and an influential man who helped completely U-turn the team he lead from arguably the most embarrassing moment of England's cricket history (it was the data) to global domination and a World Cup win in 4 years. I wish him the best of retirements whatever he chooses to do, and he can walk away with his head held high.
2010 French Open fantasy league guru 2010 Wimbledon fantasy league guru 2014 Masters golf fantasy guru 2015 Players Championship FL Guru 2016 Masters Golf Fantasy Guru
And a hat and bra to you too, my good sirs!