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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

May 29, 2019

Eion Morgan

Kennington, London, England, UK

Q. Finished your last training session. How are you? How are the team ahead of a massive World Cup opener against South Africa?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I'm good, and the team are very well. We have no injury concerns. Everybody full bill of health, and excited for tomorrow, yeah.

Q. You and Jos have talked about the tag of being favourites, and in some ways, it's better to be talked about. How have you spoke to the players about not worrying about this title or being favourites? What have you talked about within that dressing room?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we've spoke about it as a group. The level of expectation and favourite tags is there for a reason. Over the last two years, our form at home, in particular, has been outstanding, and that's the reason it's there.

And to follow up your point, a lot of the World Cup sets earlier I played in, a couple of the guys in the changing room have played in, we've gone in with very little expectation and not done that well, and I'd pick that position over any other.

Q. Going into tomorrow, is your team settled? Do you know your 11 right now?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I do. (Smiling).

Q. Care to share?
EOIN MORGAN: Have to wait for the toss, unfortunately. Still 24 hours.

Q. Could you try and put into words what winning the World Cup would mean for cricket in this country?
EOIN MORGAN: It would mean a huge amount. I think the World Cup alone raises, I suppose, the profile of the game, and a platform for every young kid in this country to have a hero or inspiration to pick up a ball or a bat.

So to go on and win it, I couldn't imagine what it would do.

Q. During the last training session, or the last meeting, when you look around at your teammates' faces, what do you see? What emotions do you see in the group at the moment?
EOIN MORGAN: It's difficult to describe them unless you actually hear them say it, but I think there's a lot of belief within the room. We're very confident within our own game.

I think it ahead of tomorrow, the first game of any World Cup or first day of a national series always feels different, and that's natural for it to feel different because it will, accepting that, and finding a way of dealing with it on the day, is a challenge within itself. But one that we're extremely looking forward to.

So in anticipation of that, we just can't wait for tomorrow to come.

Q. With the nature of the competition, would you take a result tomorrow, a win under any circumstances, or are you keen for it to be a sort of statement performance?
EOIN MORGAN: No, no. A win under any circumstances, yeah.

Q. England's white ball cricket's changed a lot over the last four years. Do you feel you need a trophy to show for it, if that makes sense, or do you think just the transformation that has happened means it's not actually dependent on winning a World Cup?
EOIN MORGAN: I think we'll need to win a trophy at some stage. I think the transformation has been brilliant. I think finding some way of sustaining that and improving it over the course of however long we might see World Cups, 50 over World Cups played, whether it be 10, 20 years, whatever it is, we would like to be at a stage where we're in and around this position right now on a consistent basis.

Because when you look at other teams around the world that have consistently competed for World Cups like Australia and India, in particular, they find themselves there all the time and it's not by fluke.

So building on this and moving it forward, a lot of it will have to be driven by the players, but it will have to be backed by the organisation, as well.

Q. Will you need to say much to the team tomorrow or does everyone know their roles perfectly by now?
EOIN MORGAN: I hope not. It's a feeling in the morning, you try and sum up the best of what's going on, if things feel scattered and all over the place, a little direction never hurts, but if things feel very focused and guys are raring to go, just try and guide them in the right direction.

Q. With the record you've got and the way you play, do you feel you intimidate opposition now?
EOIN MORGAN: I wouldn't say we intimidate opposition. I think one of the most satisfying things about the way that we play is that in the changing room, we enjoy it a huge amount and that makes it awesome because we are always having fun. There's always a smile on our face, regardless if we are winning or losing, because we are always trying to improve and challenge each other.

Q. What's the challenge of the 10.30 starts in this tournament? None of the buildup cricket, apart from the warmups, has been 10.30 starts. We have seen what someone like KG Rabada can do to England when it's moving around a lot. We saw that a couple of years ago. What will be the message to the guys in terms of dealing with that?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think to best position ourselves for the World Cup, every World Cup, there's something that stands out, and it could be that every team is 3-down in the first ten overs or 4-down or something like that. We've prepared for that.

So finding a way of adapting, if that's the scenario in the morning for the 10.30 starts is going to be a challenge that we're going to have to either overcome or just get better at throughout this tournament.

Q. What specifically about South Africa as a team impresses you?
EOIN MORGAN: I think they are a well-rounded team. They are always a strong team coming into the tournament. They are very experienced, as well. A lot of guys who have been around a long time. So we are just a well-rounded team.

Q. The absence of Steyn on the other side, how does -- when you look at their bowling attack, how do you see that their attack?
EOIN MORGAN: It's a strong attack. They have coped with Dale Steyn in previous series for about a year and a half, I think, and they did a good job of that. The last time they played us at home, Dale Steyn wasn't here. They have cover, and probably definitely not as reputable a name as Dale Steyn, but they certainly have cover.

Q. Twelve months ago, Gareth Southgate created a perfect storm of unity with the England Football Team, and they did tremendously well at the football World Cup. You had a session with Gareth, didn't you, a little while ago. What did you learn from him that you can harness in terms of the cricket World Cup?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we did do a session with Gareth. It was brilliant. Every one of our players enjoyed it and every one of our broom staff did, as well. He got up and talked about his journey with the team in and around the World Cup, but in the buildup, as well, and how they built bigger expectations and came together more as a group.

I think everybody within the room listening who has been involved with our team over the last four years recognised that, you know, they are where we were two years ago, and we started exactly where they did. Recognised what had happened in the past, drawn a line under it, tried to do things differently and move forward and enjoyed the challenge of that.

It's amazing. He did brilliantly. Got to the semifinal and everybody says it's great. We got knocked out of the Champions Trophy semifinal, and we're crap (laughter).

Q. With the ECB launching the 100 this year, and T20 leagues being popular around the world, do you think this World Cup is the ultimate test for the one-day format of the game?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, for the 50 over, it is the ultimate test. It's the prize everybody wants, definitely.

Q. Angus Fraser talked about you. He said you don't care about impressing people; you don't mind if people don't like you. We have seen you have not sung the National Anthem for England, even for Ireland you said I wouldn't Cink. This stubbornness, if I can use the word, how much does it drive you, and how does it feel to be captain of the England team at this current phase?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, it's probably one of the strongest sides of my personality. It's something that I use quite a lot.

And sort of to sum up what -- I never dreamt as a kid that I would captain England at a home World Cup. I dreamt about scoring a test match 100. I dreamt about hitting the winning runs in a World Cup final, potentially.

But I never dreamt not even in my wildest dreams that I would captain a home World Cup.

Q. A lot has been made of your batting lineup and Faf has come out and said that he's going to look to out ball-sides. Do you see this opening game as a clash of cricketing ideologies?
EOIN MORGAN: No, I don't. I don't. Providing the wicket he is a really good wicket, I think it's going to be a strong contest and like 50-over cricket for probably the last two years, the wicket being a fresh one, if it's a good wicket, it will be -- it will probably be dominated by the bat again.

If you were to go on history, so that's probably the way it will go.

Q. Just a word on Faf. He's led this team for the past couple of years, but this is his first World Cup. How crucial will his leadership be during this tournament and tomorrow, as well?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think every captain's leadership at a major tournament is extremely important. If they can do it with performance from the front and then dictate and guide and drive with tactics and things like that throughout the tournament, this is important.

So Faf, he's a big player for them.

Q. So much work has gone into this World Cup, so much planning, all their priorities and work were focussed on this and comes at a time when the game is so prevalent with Twenty20, he can land launching the 100. Do you think it's a case of now or never for ends land because it's 50-over at a peak and after, the 50-over game might be marginalised at least in this country after this tournament?
EOIN MORGAN: I wouldn't say it's now or never. Yeah, just not something that's crossed my mind. We made a huge amount of progress. Cricket at home is thriving. The women's game is thriving. The impact of that World Cup two years ago was amazing. I think the impact of this World Cup can have, you know, not as big an impact unless we go a long way, but it will have an impact on everybody. We got knocked out of the '99 World Cup early, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Q. In considering the journey of the World Cup over the next few weeks, how much focus are you putting on the first few matches and on momentum?
EOIN MORGAN: None at all. It's one game at a time. We've never really talked about momentum over the course of such a long tournament because you have actual -- we would talk about it if there were games, three games in two days, and then another one two days later. I don't think it will have a huge impact. Maybe towards the end of the group stages and into the maybe semifinals and finals, but I don't see it being like that early on.

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