England’s cricket World Cup hopes were dealt another painful blow Tuesday with the withdrawal from the squad of Middlesex’s exciting Irish-born batsman, Eoin Morgan.
After a disastrous one-day series in Australia, which England lost 6-1, Morgan is the latest injury casualty, withdrawn because of a broken finger.
Morgan has been the driving force behind England’s one-day improvement over the last 18 months, a batsman whose innovative attitude, ability to hit a long ball and calculating approach in a run chase had driven England to new levels, including winning the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean last April.
“It’s a serious loss,” Andy Flower, the England coach, admitted. “He has been a very influential performer for us.” Ravi Bopara has been summoned from the England development tour in the West Indies to take Morgan’s place.
It is commonly agreed that England need Morgan. The bookmakers have relaxed their odds slightly, but only slightly, after defeat in Australia, putting that down largely to a temporary loss of focus. They may reassess now.
Bopara, though, is not just a combative batsman, but also offers the added bonus of medium-paced trundlers in the middle overs. England’s concern about the form of Paul Collingwood had caused them to put some emergency work into Jonathan Trott’s bowling in case Collingwood’s collapse of form continued. Bopara, from that aspect at least, will be a godsend.
Bopara has 54 ODI caps and played in the last tournament, but he still averages less than 30. That is about half the standard of Morgan, whose three ODI hundreds have all been gems.
After returning to London following the Australia tour, England are exhausted. After more than three months away, the players get three days at home before heading off to Dhaka in Bangladesh for the start of an overly long tournament, where nothing much happens during the first month’s play.
It would be no surprise if England are not entirely switched on for their warm-ups against Canada on Feb 16 and Pakistan a couple of days later. A solid victory against the Netherlands in Nagpur on Feb 22 is the first serious aim.
Morgan’s absence also leaves England without a back-up wicketkeeper. If Matt Prior is injured they will rush out a replacement, with Steve Davies the only logical choice. If Prior is injured on the eve of a match, they have a dilemma.
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