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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

February 12, 2015

Eoin Morgan

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

Q. You've had a little run around in practice, but now you've gotten to the MCG. Do you feel that after so much build up that here we go sort of thing for the World Cup?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, absolutely. Certainly sense that to come. It's great. Everybody can't wait to get started. It's been a long time this coming around, and everybody's been looking forward to this game in particular. We know the pool stage is going to be tough, but obviously first port of call will be to try to get to that quarter-final.

Q. Do you sense even when there is not a crowd here it's an imposing place to play? It's going to be quite a challenge and intimidation for the players when they play Australia here?
EOIN MORGAN: It's certainly going to be a challenge. In regard to the ground, it's obviously quite a big stadium. The majority of the guys played here before. There are only two that haven't. The guys that played here before agreed that it's a fantastic venue to play. When you actually get out in the middle, you're so far away from the crowd it's quite a big AFL oval, so in regards to places where we've played before, as far being quite intimidating it's not in a the top.

Q. How concerned are you about your own form going into the World Cup?
EOIN MORGAN: Not really that concerned. Again, I went through a little bit of a bad patch before Christmas, and I feel since then, since I've started with Sydney, it's turned things around. We've had a couple of low scores, but obviously I look to cash in on Saturday if I manage to get past 10 or 20 bowls.

Q. And players in this position feel they're hitting the ball okay, and they say a big score is just around the corner. Is that kind of the approach you have in mind?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think it's four games or five games that I've scored a hundred, so I don't have to look that far back to actually reconnect with what works well for me. I took a lot from that hundred out at Sydney, and particularly against Australia, and obviously the first game is a big game against Australia, so I'll take a lot of confidence from that game.

Q. The dismissal, can you talk us through what you were thinking and what happened against Pakistan?
EOIN MORGAN: Against Pakistan? My dismissal was I played a shot that I've played, I don't know, maybe thousands of times. Usually results in the ball going over 45 on the lake side. It didn't. It caught the top edge.

Q. Is it concerning that kind of distance that you're not in format the moment?
EOIN MORGAN: No.

Q. (Indiscernible) what is your reaction?
EOIN MORGAN: It doesn't really bother me. Again, whatever team it is, it doesn't really bother us. It's really important that we focus on what we do. The team we've played in the tri-series obviously he hasn't been a part. He's been injured.

Q. England have lost 13 of the last 15 One Day Internationals they've played against Australia in Australia. How do you turn that around on Saturday?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, as I've said before, I think it's important that we focus on what we do best. I think a lot of time in the past we've strived for a formula that hasn't been ours when changing and things that we've sort of started to turn around since we've arrived here is learning to adapt with what we do well in Australia as opposed to what anybody else does well. I think if we can produce what I believe is our best cricket on Saturday, we'll be able to beat Australia.

Q. Is it obviously the same 11 that we saw through the tri-series?
EOIN MORGAN: We'll sit down and have a think about it tomorrow with the pitch. We've found it particularly in the tri-series days leading up to the game, the grounds men sort of rolled clippings into the ground so you don't get a feel for the pitch until like after training in the afternoon before the game. Then we leave it until the day of the game to announce the side. Because, again, you can come in and blow the grass away and it can be really dry underneath. So, you can't really get a feel for it at this stage.

Q. I know you said the crowd here doesn't feel like it's on top of you because it's an AFL stadium, essentially. But it's going to be 90,000 Australians here tomorrow and they're pretty much all going to be against you. Is your first job to just silence the crowd? To make sure you keep the shouting down?
EOIN MORGAN: That's the easy thing to do. We talk about the crowd here all day. It's going be to a big crowd. Guys are looking forward to playing in front of them. Ultimately it's about what we do on Saturday that determines what happens. So we'll be fairly focused on that as opposed to anything else.

Q. (Indiscernible) the Tri-Series. Are you surprised at the reaction that it's caused?
EOIN MORGAN: What comments are they?

Q. About him not swinging the ball and any bowler could add to the collapse?
EOIN MORGAN: I didn't say he didn't swing the ball. I said we underperformed, which we did. And I don't think Australia built enough pressure for us to give them their Wicket. It was all about us underperforming.

Q. Just on the facts, do you think that's something that could actually hurt them setting their expectations under pressure?
EOIN MORGAN: I don't know. Again, they've had a good run of it, as had Australia or New Zealand for a while, which it probably makes Australia favorites and New Zealand second favorites, with that comes a lot of pressure. I know sometimes it's a nice pressure to have, but for home fans, as the guy said early on, there will be 90,000 Australians cheering them on. If it doesn't go against him, it will be interesting to see how they react.

Q. There has been a lot of talk about the brand of cricket that England will need to play to be successful in this World Cup. We haven't really seen that much of it in the last few games. Are you worried that you're falling into some old habits and not being as brave as you need to be?
EOIN MORGAN: I don't think so. I think sort of the two warm-up games didn't really replicate what we wanted -- the fashion which we wanted to play, and I think that was dictated by the wickets that we played on. The first one against the West Indies was a battle to go through. And then yesterday, I'm sorry, was it yesterday? Yeah, it was yesterday. It was quite a stopping wicket. It probably wasn't 300, but it was probably 265. I thought Alex Hales and Gary Ballance did particularly well to assess that early. I said here, the feedback of the message that it wasn't a 300 wicket. Ultimately we were missing an extra seamer. To go a period where we develop two spinners and it sort of skidded on it and it didn't really grip, that's 4 for 70. If we had an extra seam, we would have had a bigger squeeze.

Q. So bearing in mind you haven't had the opportunity to play that style of cricket, how easy or otherwise is it going to be to turn it on?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think again, with the change in mentality that we've established also it's to do with the personnel that are involved as well. I think it comes quite naturally for guys to play in that manner. So given the opportunity, I think guys will be able to adapt quite quickly.

Q. You've said that the new idea is to concentrate on what you do well in Australia rather than what other teams do well. What other things do you think you do well in Australia?
EOIN MORGAN: Since we've got here, guys have put in some great individual performances. Ian Bell has hit a great run of form. It's a rate which we feel are applicable to score in Australia. I could run through everybody. Moeen Ali obviously plays in the fashion that he does, when he plays at his best, he scores it more than a runner ball at the top of the order. That's magnificent. And a guy like Joe Root's had a run of form, James Taylor, and I've had a score under my belt. If we click together as a side, we can put a score on the board that's significant enough to win the game. That's something we haven't done in the past, and I think we've been striving to do since we got here. Since one of the warm-up games where we scored 380 and we scored 340, I think it was. That replicates what we want to do. Given, I think the game in Brisbane against India, providing the pitch and continuing to play the way it did, I think we would have gone there and scored a lot of runs. With the ball on the first 40 overs we've been very accurate. We've held length well, and we've taken wickets early, having Jimmie and Broad back has been brilliant. Jimmie swinging it both ways, and obviously Broady's aggression is key. And Chris Woakes and Steve Finn. Again, in the field we've grown better as a side since we got here. The outfields the way they are, it's not lush traditional cricket outfields. The ball tends to stand up and you can go out there and express yourself on the field.

Q. Two runs and you say you're not worried. Is that your personality? Are you philosophical about these things?
EOIN MORGAN: I suppose, maybe. I find it easy to reconnect with the past and what I do. It can be individually focused I suppose when the chips are down. And I've done that in the past on a number of occasions when I've gone through low scores. So reconnect with (Indiscernible) comes through a tough period. I know I've done it and I've come out the other side.

Q. Is it Moeen and Taylor who have not played here before? You two guys have not played here before?
EOIN MORGAN: Yes, that's right.

Q. You've said before this is a young team that's evolving. Do you think you'll learn a lot about the young players in this game?
EOIN MORGAN: I think the first two games we've learned a lot of that because they're going to be two tough games. I think the vibe around the camp at the moment is a free spirited one. I think that suits the players. Hopefully it will allow them to go out and play in the manner which has gotten them to be selected.

Q. England has lost some games against Australia on the last two here in the Tri-Series which they should have won. How do you avoid just returning to the Australian thing and playing the real swagger at the moment. How do you avoid persuading the players not to be intimidated by it?
EOIN MORGAN: I think it's quite easy. I guess the majority of the sides have all been in positions before. This is only in the last year it's happened. But the majority of us have been in the series before where we've played series where we've beaten Australia 4-nil, 5-nil before, and again, guys with huge amounts of experience that have won consecutive action series probably in the last three years because we've had so many. Again, reinforcing what works is key, and emphasizing or producing your skill on the day is ultimately what is important.

Q. So you haven't been worn down by that constant winning when they shouldn't have done?
EOIN MORGAN: No, absolutely not. It swings in roundabouts. We've been in their position before, and, again, our time will come.

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