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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPFebruary 7, 2015Eoin MorganSYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we're in good shape. We've had a very productive month or so. We got a lot out of playing against good opposition, particularly the games we played against Australia, and we've had a pretty good run of things over the last three months or so, somewhere in there, so to test ourselves against them in their conditions has been great practice. We've covered a lot of bases, probably more so than I thought we'd be in this position, given probably about a month ago. Guys have scored runs, guys in put in solid performances, and with the ball we've been happy with the majority of the times we've bowled, first 40 overs have been fantastic in most games. Sort of an area of concern has been probably the last 10, but again, that's been an area of concern for a long time and is an area of concern for most teams. I think as a fielding unit we've come together quite well and sort of grown in strides the more we've been together. Q. The job as captain, you've filled it obviously in the past, but now you're getting this decent run. Have you done quite a bit over the last few weeks? EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I suppose I have. These last few weeks have flown past, and I think the most important thing from my perspective and trying to get across to the team is to be as relaxed as possible and to be the best that we can be while we're here. It's the only way we're going to win the World Cup is to play our own game and not anybody else's and to emphasize that more than anything else. Q. On your own form, obviously Alastair's (inaudible). Given your form at the moment, is that something you're desperate to do, too? EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think it's the best way to lead, if you can set the tone with performing in your own skill, it makes things a lot easier, and again, you drag a couple of guys along with you. Being a senior player, it's an important role in the side. But again, I think getting one score in the series was crucial, but again, I would like to have contributed more, but again, as a unit, I think we've performed pretty well. Q. These two warm up games coming up, do they take on added significance now in the World Cup? EOIN MORGAN: I think it's a matter of fine tuning what we've built on so far, and learning and adapting and going forward is going to be huge for us. We're a young side and a learning side, and I think if we can accelerate that experience over this next month or so, it'll hold us in good stead. Q. Just wanted to know, the first game is up against Australia, and they don't know whether Michael Clarke is captaining the first game or not. Doesn't that give you a strong starting point that perhaps the opposition still does not know who's going to lead? EOIN MORGAN: It doesn't make a difference with what we do. We're very focused on what we need to do as a side. We've played against Australia a lot, and we know when we play at our best and we beat them, we focus on what we do. Q. How have you found being the captain, the demands of the office and all that comes with it? EOIN MORGAN: No, it's been fine, and I've enjoyed it. It's been no different to when I've done it in the past, which has been great. It's been an easy transition. Peter Moores has been a great help, as well. Obviously he's been involved as head coach for nearly a year now, and his experience probably in his previous reign as coach has held me in good stead, and again, he's a good shoulder to turn to and use that experience as much as possible. Again, I speak to the senior players a lot, and use guys like Jimmy Anderson and Ian Bell to bounce ideas off, just to make sure we're going in the right direction. Q. What will constitute an acceptable World Cup performance overall, not you personally but from the team? EOIN MORGAN: From the team, we're here to win the World Cup. That's the bottom line. Like every other team, we're here to get the best out of ourselves, and us at our best, we can win this World Cup. Q. How would you assess your form? EOIN MORGAN: I'd say once you get past the first ball, you're going all right. No, it's been fine. Obviously the wickets here are really good to bat on, and there's a huge emphasis on your first 20 balls, and once you get past them, the emphasis is on contributing and making either a match winning individual contribution or match winning partnership, and that's a big emphasis on the team, and we've done that as a side so far. I've not done it yet, which has been disappointing, but again, I think I'm in a good place, good head space for where we are at the moment. Q. (Question on Michael Clarke.) Do you think it's a distraction for them going into the first World Cup? EOIN MORGAN: I haven't a clue. I haven't spoken to any of them, so I don't know if it's a distraction or not. Q. Whether the club plays or not on Saturday doesn't really matter. You lost your last three games in the Tri Series. Are you confident psychologically you can as a team come back and win that first game? EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, absolutely. I think that, again, the refocus has to be on us as a side. I mean, if we front up and play as well as we can do or as well as we've shown in these last six months or so, absolutely we can beat Australia. It's going to be a tough challenge. They've had the majority of momentum throughout the summer, and they've had guys performing consistently, which again, we're striving to do. Q. In the next couple warm up games, do you think it's essential really for England's batting perspective that you have an opportunity to go quite hard? Would you like to see a bit more freedom from the batsmen in these two warm up games? EOIN MORGAN: If conditions allow, yeah, absolutely. It's certainly something we've focused on more so since we've arrived here. Again, we're talking on a good batting surface a winning score is probably about 340, par is about 300, and it's an area in which we've made strides. We've struggled to do this in the past, and I think with the batting lineup we have and the batting pair we have within a squad, it's well within our capability to continue to play positively throughout 50 overs. Q. And is that something you've had to reinforce because when you're coming into more pressured situations, it's quite easy for players to tense up a little bit and go back to their old do you have to keep reinforcing this freedom and tell guys to go for it? EOIN MORGAN: Absolutely, and again, the more we can do that, the better, try and instill the trust within everybody individually in the top seven is huge for us, considering it's not alien to us to playing that way because the guys we've selected in the squad play that way naturally, but it certainly is different for us to play in these conditions and try and be as positive as we can as opposed to what we used to. Q. More than 50 percent of your side is playing the World Cup for the first time. Is that an added pressure on leading such a young squad into a tournament like the World Cup? EOIN MORGAN: I think it makes it more exciting, guys with a lot of energy, guys are excited about being here, and again, there's a huge emphasis on there being a huge carrot at the end of it. Maybe once, twice in a career you have an opportunity to go and win a World Cup or be part of a World Cup side, so the opportunity is huge, and guys are really looking forward to it. Q. Just related to that, how excited are you to be leading England in a global tournament like this, and can you kind of sum up what it actually means to you? EOIN MORGAN: It's huge, considering the group of players that we have, the talent within the squad is untold. It's certainly the most talented squad I've ever been a part of, and to get the opportunity to lead these group of players in a World Cup is huge. I didn't get a chance to play in the whole of the last World Cup, so again, I'm really looking forward to it. Q. Just wondering what your take is on the debate about bat size and the ICC's stance on that? EOIN MORGAN: Can you just remind me? I heard something the other day but I can't say it came from a reliable Q. I think it's mandated that the size of the bats, there's concerns that it's too much in favor of the batsmen. EOIN MORGAN: It's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. The fact that you can concentrate on the bat size when the rules changes have been made so that you bowl with two new balls, the ball is never any more old than 25 overs, and even extra one in the circle. I think that's a point in itself, but the bat size is ridiculous. Q. Within reason? EOIN MORGAN: Oh, within reason. I haven't come across a bat yet where I've said this is ridiculous, this should be outlawed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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