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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 7, 2019

Eoin Morgan

Cardiff, Wales, UK

Q. You've had a few days to reflect on Trent Bridge. What's been said, and how confident are you that you can get the show back on the road here?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, all we've talked about is sticking to what we do well, looking at our strengths. Previous to the tournament starting, we talked about losing games, how we would react and what would we counter that with, and everything goes back to focussing on ourselves and our strengths and how we wins games at cricket and how we get the best out of ourselves.

Q. Looking at the conditions, is there a good case of playing out a seamer and bringing Liam Plunkett back on to the team?
EOIN MORGAN: There could be. Obviously another day where the wicket is under the covers, wickets that have been played on here so far have been a grant bit greener and probably seamer-friendly. So that's a potential, yeah.

Q. What about Bangladesh, they have beaten England in the last two World Cups and they have just beaten South Africa. How difficult could this match be?
EOIN MORGAN: It is going to be a difficult game. They are a good side. I think people underestimate them. We certainly don't. They are a side that has played a lot of cricket. Their senior players, especially, have played a lot of games, even more so than our senior players.

So they are a threat. But hopefully we can play well and overcome it.

Q. And just finally, after that defeat by Pakistan, how much pressure are you feeling coming into this game?
EOIN MORGAN: None. It's a game we lost. We didn't deserve -- we didn't deserve to win the game. We didn't play well enough. We played some really good cricket. Two guys scored a hundred. We nearly chased down 350, so yeah.

Q. Before this tournament, it's a long time before you get to games where you feel like they are must-win, and if you stand two wins from three, it's easy to feel confident, and if you're one win from three, feels like a bit of a problem. Is that true?
EOIN MORGAN: I think the process still remains the same. We're heavily process-driven and focussing on ourselves and what we do. If that happens to be the case where we don't win the next couple of games, we'll still need to win the following game. The priority still remains the same. It's what you can do to win the next game. Our next game is tomorrow. It's our focus.

Q. In a weird kind of way, is it harder to deal with defeat when you lose so early?
EOIN MORGAN: No, I think it presents a huge opportunity to learn more about your game and to try and improve. I think games where we've been defeated, probably heavily in the past, we've probably learnt the most, because we've still managed to stay in the game. We've remained in a head space where we believe we can still win the game, and that shows, probably a lot more to us than to our supporters, what they don't see all the time. They see an exciting team the majority of the time, and when we lose games, we want to see character. We want to see another side of our game, so yeah.

Q. I just wanted to ask about Bangladesh. We have all observed their kind of general progress. For years, they were thought of as being underdogs, and maybe that was lazy from our point of view or whatever. Do you actually see them as potential winners of this competition? Are they good enough to be world champs?
EOIN MORGAN: It's difficult to say, particularly at this early stage. They played well against South Africa. They put New Zealand under pressure. They are a side with a huge amount of potential.

I think if you look back at probably the earliest recognition, I remember them making a step forward, I think they played Australia in 2005 where they went close or might have even won.

So sort of since then, they have been exposed to a lot more cricket and they have become a better side, particularly at home.

Q. The last game against Pakistan, two players were fined. One was perhaps engaged with the crowd and a few mutters about the state of the ball. Do you think you were distracted more so than normal?
EOIN MORGAN: No. The ball situation, the umpire's constantly monitor the ball. They did for both sides. A couple of guys got fined; that happens. A little bit emotionally driven, which is expected in a World Cup. You want to see that in guys.

But I didn't see anything distracting us more so.

Q. You have just spoken about sticking to your strengths and focussing on our game, do you feel like did you that like you always do?
EOIN MORGAN: Probably we lacked a bit in the field. I mentioned it after the game, and that still remains the case. So hopefully we put in a better performance tomorrow in the field.

Q. You already said that Bangladesh is a threat for you. Can you (be) specific, which area you feel (that) threat?
EOIN MORGAN: Their strongest areas: They are good with the bat. They are strong with the top. They have good spinners and good seamers. So they are a good side.

Q. Since the last World Cup, we have seen a new England team, especially in limited overs. Do you think after that match in Adelaide against Bangladesh, in 2015 World Cup, after that match, after losing that helped a lot to change the England in limited overs?
EOIN MORGAN: Not particularly that fixture. I probably would have said the --

Q. Being knocked out after that match.
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we got knocked out after that match (Laughter).

Q. What did you think about it?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, we got knocked out after that match. I don't -- can you go back to the question, please?

Q. Feels last World Cup, we have seen a new England team in limited overs. Do you think after the World Cup, especially in that match, after losing in Adelaide --
EOIN MORGAN: So not especially that match. I think big contributions to that were the New Zealand game in Wellington. So big contributions to us making a step forward and making big decisions --

Q. No, in Adelaide. After Bangladesh, after losing --
EOIN MORGAN: I was there.

Q. That helped to change that England team in last four years?
EOIN MORGAN: That helped us, no. (Laughter).

Q. Have you reached the stage where you look at anybody else's results at the moment, things like Australia winning their first two, or is it a bit too early still?
EOIN MORGAN: No, I think being a World Cup year and everybody loving cricket -- majority of the guys will keep an eye on the results regardless. We talk about the changing room about certain things that happen, certain trends. That's part of being open to try and learn throughout the tournament.

Yeah, guys are watching the majority of the games.

Q. We've seen in the first two games, the opposition opening up with spin. Bangladesh have the options to do that, as well. Do you feel like Jonny and Jason are quite keen to put that one to bed and show that there's no particular weakness there?
EOIN MORGAN: No, I think it's just another challenge that the two guys have been presented with. I'm sure that they will kick on. It's like anything, when the ball swings, it's a new challenge. Guys fall short, it's a new challenge. Mystery spin, is a new challenge. Bangladesh will open with spin, definitely.

Q. After that game in Adelaide, did you think your one-day captaincy was over before it really began?
EOIN MORGAN: I didn't really know, is the honest answer. And probably after the Afghanistan game in that period, probably for the next month or so, I didn't know.

Q. But it was a watershed moment from the journey you've had since.
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, it wasn't that game in particular. We weren't humiliated. We were beaten, again, by a better team. They deserved to win that night. The humiliating games were games that happened previous to that. Games we might have been competitive and were blown away.

Q. The team looked a wee bit anxious, maybe in, that last game. Firstly; that a fair observation, and secondly, have you done anything differently in the last few days to get back towards the environment where, I don't know, it's fearless?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I wouldn't say we were anxious. I think it's natural to feel different in different games, in particular. But I wouldn't say that we were over, like more anxious than normal. For the last couple of days for us, it's been a case of getting away from the game. There's been a bit of rain around, so we chose to train yesterday, as opposed to having an off. But we feel our prep is good.

Q. When you look outside and see weather like this and forced to train inside, I think the forecast is pretty shoddy for the next week or so. Do you start to worry about the impact it might have on your tournament and whether there might be different permutations that come into play, rather than having nine results, if you like?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think the weather will have an impact. It's something we spoke about, having the tournament at home, it will impact it at some stage. We do want it to turn, because it has a big impact on every team.

We've seen that two years ago in the Champions Trophy. Australia only played one game, which is not what you want in a competition, and it has a big effect on how the wickets will play and be prepared and the groundsmen have an extremely difficult job preparing three wickets, as opposed to just one, for one game.

So I think everybody would like to see it turn.

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