As he fades with the bat, it is easy to forget what a revolutionary England’s captain has been as both player and leader
One of Napoleon’s favourite generals, the glamorous, reckless Joachim Murat, was famous for riding into battle ahead of his cavalry regiment carrying nothing but a small whip. For all the bloodshed around him Murat maintained he never personally injured a single enemy soldier, although presumably that whip could be a bit annoying. In an unfortunate twist he ended up being sentenced to death for treason, his final request a hot bath filled with eau de cologne and a firing squad made up of his own captured men.
It is always hard to resist the urge to pack sport and war into the same sentence, to draw overwrought comparisons between acts of military generalship and standing around wearing three caps deciding whose turn it is to bowl. Still, though, watching Eoin Morgan lead Kolkata Knight Riders to the final of the Indian Premier League while making scores of 4, 0, 5, 13, 2, 2, 0, 8 and 7, it was hard not to feel a bit of that Murat energy. Here he comes, the non-combatant general, riding into battle with only a whip in his hand. And preparing now to lead England into their T20 World Cup campaign against West Indies on Saturday day.
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