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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 14, 2019

Eoin Morgan

Southampton, England, UK

England - 213-2, West Indies - 212

Q. Eoin, can we take it from the fact that you are standing up that the back's not great?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, it's sore. I've had back spasms before. We think it is another back spasm. It normally takes a few days to settle down, so yeah.

Q. Unclear at the moment?
EOIN MORGAN: Unclear. We'll know more in the next 24 hours, see how I pull up tomorrow.

Q. In terms of Jason, how do you know if he is pulling up?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I don't know how he will pull up tomorrow. He had a tight hamstring so he will go for a scan tomorrow and probably it will take 48 hours before we have the results and stuff.

Q. How worrying is it in general to have both yourself and Jason pulling up?
EOIN MORGAN: I think when any two players go down it is a little bit of a worry. I don't think -- we are not at panic stations or anything yet. We will just see how we get on in the next 48 hours and go from there.

Q. If I remember correctly, you had a back spasm last summer, I think, in that one-day series against Australia and you were back playing three days later. Does this feel worse or better than that?
EOIN MORGAN: It's in a different area. You normally get a good indication the following day if it settles down a little bit, the improvement is there straightaway, and then the following day it is better so, yeah.

Q. Do you envisage yourself playing in the Afghanistan game or is it too early?
EOIN MORGAN: I don't know. Like everybody, we will have to see how it pulls up, particularly probably with myself and Jason, maybe a couple of the bowlers, and do a risk assessment and see how risky it is going into that game, bearing in mind we have two games in quite a short space.

Q. Not ideal for Jason to pull up as well. But how pleased were you with how Joe Root filled in at the top of the order?
EOIN MORGAN: Exceptionally pleased. I think he is now the highest run scorer in the tournament. He's scored two hundreds. He's such an important player for us. He is the glue that holds everything together and probably a side of his batting that has got better over the last two or three years that people haven't seen a lot of, his expansive game.

He never seems to go at less than a run a ball. You look up, he is going at more than a run a ball and it is exceptionally good to watch, so to see him come out and be in this form and continue it is brilliant.

Q. You got two fast bowlers bowling around 95mph, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. How much of that is an advantage going ahead in the tournament? You have two fast bowlers who really rev it up.
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, I think it's been one of the trends of the tournament. A lot of the teams have bowlers who can bowl quite quickly. We are very fortunate we have three guys that can touch 90mph. It's something that we are going to use. It will be a strength of ours.

But also on the other side of it, we have a very good leg-spinner, a very good off-spinner, so all round I think we have areas covered if trends do change later in the tournament and wickets get older, the spinners might come into it a bit more.

Q. It's not ideal to have the injury concerns, but presumably really pleasing that you have shown you have got some all-round strength? I mean, to have a seventh bowler who can take two wickets. To have a No.7 or 8 who can come in -- he has got a Test hundred, hasn't he? That is a reminder that when things go wrong, you have got a Plan B, I guess?
EOIN MORGAN: Yes, absolutely. Today is a very good example of that. Another one would probably be away in Australia, in Sydney, when Liam Plunkett went down in the first over, I think first over that he bowled. The Champions' Trophy first game against Bangladesh, Chris Woakes went down with a side strain. So strength in depth is something that we have worked on in order to plan for situations like this.

Q. Today was probably a little bit different, but what does it feel like in other matches playing teams where they have such incredible support? Does it actually feel like a home World Cup for you guys?
EOIN MORGAN: Today definitely felt like a home game, it did. I didn't have any indication that like there were a lot of West Indies fans. When you play Asian teams you certainly get that impression that there's a lot of fans there.

Q. How does that change the atmosphere having the balance between the two sets of fans?
EOIN MORGAN: It is what it is. We have accepted that when we do play against teams like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, they will feel like away games. And that is just the way cricket is, yeah.

Q. We talked about Joe Root's batting, but what made you turn to Joe at that point in the match as a bowler?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, it was surprising that Adil got it to turn as much. I kept speaking to Jos because I can't get an indication unless the ball beats the bat as to how much it's turning, but Jos kept saying, "It is turning more than we think here, it might be worth a go." So we spoke about it for a couple of overs and went with it for one, possibly two.

But he started brilliantly. And typically he's got a golden arm. He does take wickets, which is great (smiling). Amazing.

Q. How much of a luxury is it to have a guy like Jofra at the death? Sometimes in the past the death has been an issue. But he doesn't just keep it tight, he takes wickets as well?
EOIN MORGAN: Yeah, Jofra -- the addition of Jofra covers all three areas. He takes the new ball, he bowls well in the middle and at the end. So to have that at your disposal gives you a lot of options as a captain, particularly when you have Liam Plunkett in the middle with Adil Rashid or it might be Moeen Ali that allows you to hold overs back. Potentially, if you take a wicket, you can use him then when the new batsman comes in if he is liable to get out to like a quick bowler.

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