England’s new Test captain admits he is replicating the environment Morgan created in the limited-overs gameThere is one aspect of the Test captaincy Ben Stokes hasn’t warmed to in these past few weeks, and that is answering everybody else’s questions about how he does it. “Have you been wondering what all the fuss is about captaincy in Test cricket?” Stokes was asked on Tuesday. “I mean it’s quite annoying having to do this when I’d rather be in the dressing room celebrating with the other lads,” Stokes laughed, only half-joking. Clarity. Positivity. Simplicity. There’s only so many ways he can explain it before you start to think that, as Louis Armstrong said, if you’ve got to ask then you’re never...
As he fades with the bat, it is easy to forget what a revolutionary England’s captain has been as both player and leaderOne 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...
The captain is adored by all but he will not be in charge forever and a succession plan will need to be in place in good timeA quick quiz question: without looking it up, what do you remember about Eoin Morgan’s contribution to the 2019 World Cup final? The more retentive of you will recall his scratchy innings of nine from 22 balls. Perhaps you remember his quirky dismissal, caught brilliantly at deep point to leave England 86 for four. For a good many of you, I’ll wager, the answer is almost nothing at all.In fact, Morgan’s role in that final was one pieced together largely in retrospect. The soft-focus images of Morgan holding the trophy aloft against a backdrop...
The Black Caps were once the inspiration, now they are the last obstacle standing between a daring England and the World CupAs it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end. Four years on from the start of English cricket’s great white‑ball paradigm shift, Eoin Morgan’s band of buccaneers return to Lord’s on Sunday for the World Cup final. In the process they find themselves facing the most poignant of opposition.Through that period of revamp and clearing out it is New Zealand who have been a significant constant for this new model England. First as an inspiration, then as a yardstick of progress and now as the final obstacle in the path of this brilliantly planned and...
Eoin Morgan’s captaincy is central to the huge progress, so much so that Ben Stokes needs to be fit and bowling well to get a place backIt was only a few weeks ago that English cricket was reckoned to be in crisis; the team was losing to Pakistan in Test cricket and to Scotland in a 50-over game while the sages in the offices of the England and Wales Cricket Board were concocting a camel of a competition, obviously designed by a committee, which attracted ridicule from just about everyone in the game not employed by it.Now, in the week when our football team have won a World Cup match, cricket has stolen the headlines after England smashed 481 for...