“I think he brings so much more than just the batting” – England coach says of white-ball captain
Matt Roller11-Nov-2021Eoin Morgan is the only man who can determine his future as England’s limited-overs captain and he was already making plans for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia on the bus back from Abu Dhabi to Dubai after their defeat to New Zealand, Chris Silverwood has said.England lost by five wickets with an over to spare in Wednesday’s semi-final, thanks to a late surge from James Neesham and Daryl Mitchell, after which Morgan insisted that he would continue in the role in spite of his poor form with the bat this year. Silverwood, England’s head coach, gave Morgan carte blanche to stay on, saying that “the longer he is there, the better”.”He’s got to make that decision himself,” Silverwood said on Thursday. “Morgs and I talk a lot. We are always chatting away. Even last night on the coach on the way back, his mind had already gone on to the next [World Cup], what do we need to do, what are we looking for. As soon as those conversations start, in my mind, that is it for us: he’s in. He wants it, and he wants to lead. I think he will make his mind up when he’s ready.”He’s a very strong leader, and has been for many years now. I still think he’s got a lot of years in front of him that he can give to this team, and this team enjoy having him at the front. I think we are a stronger unit for it. We’ve seen that, at stages in the tournament, he has slipped down the order to let others put their mark on the game. I think that’s testament to what a good leader he is. For me, the longer he is there, the better.”He probably hasn’t got the runs he wanted, but the value he brings as a leader outweighs that. That’s how I see it. What he brings to the team from a tactical point of view, a motivational point of view and from the way he gets all the players and staff to buy in behind him and to follow him… I think he brings so much more than just the batting.”Related
Eoin Morgan's endgame approaches as England prepare to do without him
England's imbalance comes back to bite them at the death
Eoin Morgan remains determined to stay on as England captain
England cut contrasting figures as end of an era looms for golden generation
Silverwood said that England were “hurting” after having their place in the final “snatched away” from them but that he took pride in their performances across the World Cup in the absence of three important players in Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes, with Tymal Mills and Jason Roy ruled out later in the tournament and that the same core would be in Australia next year.”I’m not going to lie – it would have been nice to have had Tymal out there, or bring in Archer. But at the same time we did have strength on the bench,” Silverwood said. “It does show a depth of talent, which is very encouraging. A lot of people will be better for the experience.”At the same time, we have got a group of lads who are hurting, which you can understand as well. To get so close, touching distance, and then to have it snatched away… we had the game under control for a lot of the time, [but Neesham] came in and played some exceptional shots, made life difficult for us.”We have a lot of talent. It [the next World Cup] comes in such a short period of time – it’s not like it’s in three or four years’ time. I don’t think age particularly comes into this one. We have got a good pool of players that we are picking from… I imagine everyone will be throwing their hat in the ring.”England’s multi-format players – Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood – will fly out of Dubai this weekend on a charter flight with the Australia squad, along with most of the coaching staff at the World Cup. Silverwood, whose appointment in 2019 was intended to signal an increased focus on Test cricket rather than white-ball formats, maintained that he was the right man to coach England’s limited-overs sides.”It does keep me very busy, but at the same time I’m enjoying the role,” he said. “You’re involved in everything, you’re an integral part of it and that’s exactly what you want and you want to have the ability to effect change if you can and try and bring some success and help the players. The big one for me is to make sure that myself, the coaching staff, all of us are helping the players to be in the best place possible to go out there and perform and live their dreams. That’s what I enjoy doing, so for the moment I’m fine.”
