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General Cricket => Players => Topic started by: InternalTraining on June 01, 2020, 05:35:03 AM
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He captained a WC winning team. He talks about culture and values when discussing Hales' return to the squad. He is an exceptional batsmen, supposed a great skipper, and comes across as a tough during pressers.
- What exactly did he do to make the team what it is today?
- How much of his personality and work ethic is part of the team culture?
- Is he a task master?
- What do his team mates think of him?
- How much respect does he get from the squad?
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Number 1 - he deserves his spot, like you say a great batsman. No pressure on his spot so no need for him to worry about that area of his game.
Leads from the front. Always bats the way he wants the team to bat. Other players feed off this.
Never seems to be stressed out, I'm sure he is but he looks cool.
I'm sure he sets a great standard at training.
Is Irish so probably wins all the drinking games.
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I've read bits and pieces about Morgan and watched him captain numerous times, as I am sure we all have, but big things that stick out for me :
Clear head in pressure situations.
Presents himself as unflappable rather than manic, limited movement on the pitch and trusts his bowlers to execute.
Stern and disciplined - very rarely see anything off the field from him.
Experienced - both in terms of intl game and playing domestic around the world.
Uses data clinically and doesn't overload his team with it.
Big advocate of a style of cricket which suits England's strengths - fast, aggressive cricket.
The above probably allows for a bigger leeway of failings, as performances are almost always entertaining, and occasional failure is to be expected.
Respectful of opponents and teammates.
As you can see, I am a massive Morgan fan :D
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He also seems to have a knack for setting unusual fields without seeming to set them for the sake of being unconventional. To me, that suggests he has an excellent cricket brain for the shorter formats.
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As an outsider, it is difficult to judge what comes from Morgan and what has come from the coaching staff but two things stand out for me.
First, a clear assessment as to what the team needs to look like and to be able to do in order to win at white ball cricket and a clear judgment as to the players who are capable of delivering that
Second, consistency of selection amongst that group so that particularly the batsmen can play aggressively and with freedom within having to worry about playing for their place
Looking ahead, one attribute of teams that achieve sustained success is being ruthless. Liam Plunkett has not done anything wrong , but he won't be around for the next world cup.
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I don't doubt that Morgan was the architect of England's WC win, but I do think he has some flaws as a skipper. The main one being that he has obvious trust issues with some players - now, Hales' exclusion is probably just about defensible as he was so far out of line - but basically blackballing Dawid Malan because he failed to run a bye on the last ball of the innings? Seems pretty disproportionate to me.
Also, for all his funky fields, he skippers a side that ships 320+ with alarming regularity. Its great to back a line up of power hitters to get you out of trouble - but should they really have conceded the way they have at times?
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Its hard to say whether this was Morgan or someone else in the white ball coaching setup, but a few years ago they read the way ODIs were going earlier than anyone else. To win you need to score 300-350 every innings, to do that, you need to tee off from ball one and keep teeing off even if you lose wickets. Nowadays every team does this, but a few years ago England were the only team doing it and it was seen as very risky.
The thing about this approach is that every now and then you will be bowled out for 100. You'll win the other 9 games out of 10, but the one game you lose will be embarrassing and you will get slaughtered in the press (as they were, repeatedly).
The other thing about this approach is that it only works if every player is totally secure in his place and confident that he won't be pilloried if he gets cleaned up swinging for the fences. It was crucial that morgan backed his players and their approach even after they'd had an embarrassing collapse, even when this led to mockery from the press and various pundits.
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Also, for all his funky fields, he skippers a side that ships 320+ with alarming regularity. Its great to back a line up of power hitters to get you out of trouble - but should they really have conceded the way they have at times?
I would agree here, especially with some of the bowling attacks he's had in recent times.
I love attacking cricket, and shipping runs in pursuit of taking wickets is fine if the batters can do the business. There is an argument to say that the majority of ODI cricket around the world is now pretty similar with flat true decks the norm, so relying on batting isn't a serious issue?
I was at the Eng v Afghan WC game and whilst there was an element of lambs to the slaughter when the tailenders were facing Jofra, I did enjoy Morgan encouraging Jofra to go for the kill even though the game was well over. He bumped and hit the number 9 or 10 with the last ball of the game with 150 runs required and Morgan praised it. Wood had earlier knocked out the guy who scored 70 odd and for a while he seemed in a bad way, but he came back to record his half century. When the medics were on the field Jofra looked a bit unsure and stayed away from the rest of the group, so it was good to see Morgan encouraging him to continue attacking, even against fairly weak opposition*
* Just to note I thought Afghanistan actually played pretty well, Morgans innings was a sight to behold and he won the game on his own. Sixes everywhere. I even made it onto TV as Moeens late flurry rained down on me.
(https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66599652_10157438706072803_471738725093605376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_sid=09cbfe&_nc_ohc=nRLzKwCWk74AX-QrROk&_nc_oc=AQnsPVKT9GJReh0DqD6zZiQmrCbZ4n0DqMyqwRlR8FUm4Fd9cP9R4wToCyTOxpg2SuA&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.xx&oh=db36d999aba41f65b3e852ee201c5d4b&oe=5F3EEB92)
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The most important thing Morgan has done for us is not really his captaincy, it's changing the way we played totally from the disaster of the 2015 World Cup.
To that, you have to look, to the organisation that gets so much bile on this forum-the ECB.
Morgan had a very average batting record up till the point he was captain, it was the ECB that removed Cook(rightly) so Newell,Whittaker,Fraser acting for the ECB made a change that was needed.
A hands off approached from Strauss gave Morgan a completely free reign to fail or succeed with a new style with a specialist coach-Bayliss.
And it worked, fearless cricket that other teams were playing before us, the use of a leggie towards the end of the innings when players panic and try to push the score along worked.Add in some tight and experience bowlers in the middle-Plunkett especially.
another chance for Bairstow at the top of the order instead of Hales(think this was some sort of injury if I remember) and you get a transformed Bairstow as a one day specialist and Roy and we are off and running with power hitting pretty much all the way, probably Root is the only one that cannot so he works the ball around.
I think Morgan has developed into a role given to him without interference from the management at the ECB, that has given him the freedom to succed or fail on his head.
To back off and give Morgan control is the best decision strauss ever made-even thou he hasn't been retired long the one game has changed a lot.
I like Morgan, he is straightforward and honest and has developed a multi cultural team that respects different backgrounds and faiths. This is massively important developing any team.
We could not of asked for a better leader I don't think.
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Morgan had a very average batting record up till the point he was captain, it was the ECB that removed Cook(rightly) so Newell,Whittaker,Fraser acting for the ECB made a change that was needed.
That's interesting, I thought he had had a pretty decent average before captaincy. Then, what led to ECB to hand him the reins?
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That's interesting, I thought he had had a pretty decent average before captaincy. Then, what led to ECB to hand him the reins?
Early on he had one 50 from 19 innings, that is correct...exact timings yes I could be wrong at what stage that was
I think what I am trying to get across is regardless of actual scores it was the change and the mindset England stuck with...
Morgan is recent times with the bat is far far more consistent than early on
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Its hard to say whether this was Morgan or someone else in the white ball coaching setup, but a few years ago they read the way ODIs were going earlier than anyone else. To win you need to score 300-350 every innings, to do that, you need to tee off from ball one and keep teeing off even if you lose wickets. Nowadays every team does this, but a few years ago England were the only team doing it and it was seen as very risky.
Pretty Sure England were the last team to do this but sounds like a cool story.
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I’d argue England went from the 260-280 game plan while everyone else was on 300-320... then England went sod this let’s try and score 500!
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I’d argue England went from the 260-280 game plan while everyone else was on 300-320... then England went sod this let’s try and score 500!
I heard that Morgan sat down with Brendon McCullum and talked at length about how England should play and came out of the discussion with how England are now playing. Fearless cricket and deserved Champions of World Cricket.
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^ Absolutely "deserved"! There couldn't be a better final to a world cup in any sporting event!
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Just wish his back would let him play for longer!
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Its hard to say whether this was Morgan or someone else in the white ball coaching setup, but a few years ago they read the way ODIs were going earlier than anyone else. To win you need to score 300-350 every innings, to do that, you need to tee off from ball one and keep teeing off even if you lose wickets. Nowadays every team does this, but a few years ago England were the only team doing it and it was seen as very risky.
Pretty Sure England were the last team to do this but sounds like a cool story.
In 2015 we were miles behind, by 2017 we were miles ahead. A lot of this was down to Bayliss, of course.
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In 2015 we were miles behind, by 2017 we were miles ahead. A lot of this was down to Bayliss, of course.
Miles ahead?
All teams were trying to play that style, tell me one team that was not looking to score 350+ each game. England just did it better.
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It has to be the mentality that 'we are going to play this way. doesn't matter if we are 100 all out a couple of time. just play positive cricket.'
and then he identified and backed the players that matched his vision of how the team wants to play. probably why root is not a t20 regular now.
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It has to be the mentality that 'we are going to play this way. doesn't matter if we are 100 all out a couple of time. just play positive cricket.'
and then he identified and backed the players that matched his vision of how the team wants to play. probably why root is not a t20 regular now.
Root isn't a T20 regular because there's no space for someone who isn't a natural power hitter in the top order of an elite T20 side any more. Root is phenomenal but power hitting doesn't come naturally to him and I think he's admitted as much.
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Exactly...plus there are too many options at the top in Buttler, Roy, Bairstow, Banton and maybe Hales. If Moeen is more consistent then along with Morgan, Stokes that is an amazing middle order to follow. Makes England favourites
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^ Right on. There is some serious batting depth.
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Note that Malan didn't even get a mention there. His record is pretty phenomenal in T20. Just shows how ridiculous the top order depth is.
I think it does lend weight to the argument that Buttler should play in the finisher role though, plenty explosive players up top but the inventiveness that a difficult chase sometimes requires is really Buttler's strength.
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Exactly...plus there are too many options at the top in Buttler, Roy, Bairstow, Banton and maybe Hales. If Moeen is more consistent then along with Morgan, Stokes that is an amazing middle order to follow. Makes England favourites
Decent side that. Plenty of others on fringes too who would walk into other international sides.
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At the risk of getting a ton of hate... am not sure Morgan is that big of a genius. He’s been fortunate to have a great team (like ponting), but is he really a master tactician? The change in Eng ODI fortunes was not his initiative - he was merely implementing the new vision of the whole set up. He has done that very well, but I wouldn’t put him in the same league as:
Ranatunga (who completely changed ODI cricket, and took a “minnow” to undefeated WC glory),
Imran Khan (totally turned ODI bowling on its head by picking genuine wicket takers instead of “run savers”),
Stephen Fleming (took a modest team and helped it punch well above its weight),
Martin Crowe (true innovator as ODI captain - remember Deepak Patel and Mark Greatbatch?)
Morgan is one of my favourite cricketers to watch, but as a captain, his “this is how we play” approach has backfired at key moments (such as the Champions trophy). Not very adaptable to non-road conditions.
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I think it's fair not to call him a genius captain but he has been a exceptional leader with a good plan building on the people you mention and Brendon McCullum
He has grown a group through his selection policy in line with his plan of 'this is how we play'
He has also give those players space to grow in to what we have now. Roy could have been discarded for being 'too flash' Rashid for going at too high a rate. Morgan's understood the importance of setting the tone at the top and taking wickets in the middle. Plunkett could easily have been a under used opening bowlers rather than the wicket taking middle overs bowler he became - Morgan picked him after 2015 WC loss
He's also got key decisions right - he moved on from anderson, cook,. he recognised the importance of pace for the bowling attack and the effectiveness of spin in the middle overs fortunate to have rashid but Morgan bought him in after the 2015 WC loss. rashid hadn't played an ODI for england since 2009. Same for Plunkett. he removed hales when we went astray. he was ruthless in the selection of Archer over Wiley. All these things contributed to the being No 1 in the world and WC favourites
looking at the 2016 side against sri lanka it's almost an identikit side for the 2019 side. but the plan and the method was clear
Genius, perhaps not but England best leader in ODIs, no doubt for me.
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Note that Malan didn't even get a mention there. His record is pretty phenomenal in T20. Just shows how ridiculous the top order depth is.
I think it does lend weight to the argument that Buttler should play in the finisher role though, plenty explosive players up top but the inventiveness that a difficult chase sometimes requires is really Buttler's strength.
Impressive stats but the perception that he plays for his average doesn’t help. Morgan even criticised him for not running a bye of the last ball. But should definitely get more chances to prove his worth. Maybe instead of Moeen
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Moeen and Malan have totally different roles in the t20 team, that isn't going to work.
Malan is a top 3 bat. At the moment the t20 top 3 is Buttler, Roy and Bairstow. Now if Buttler played at 5/6 then there is room for him.
But that would be a rethink of the current plans. Plus Buttler is our best t20 batsman.
Perhaps he could bat at 4. But that would mean dropping Morgan for Malan. Oh. That isn't going to happen.
So Malan is harshly treated.
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Also of the potential candidates to bat top 3 (Roy, Buttler, Bairstow, Banton, Malan) Malan is the only one who starts slow and accelerates. The others all just go after it immediately, and it seems pretty clear Morgan/England value that.
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I think it's fair not to call him a genius captain but he has been a exceptional leader with a good plan building on the people you mention and Brendon McCullum
He has grown a group through his selection policy in line with his plan of 'this is how we play'
He has also give those players space to grow in to what we have now. Roy could have been discarded for being 'too flash' Rashid for going at too high a rate. Morgan's understood the importance of setting the tone at the top and taking wickets in the middle. Plunkett could easily have been a under used opening bowlers rather than the wicket taking middle overs bowler he became - Morgan picked him after 2015 WC loss
He's also got key decisions right - he moved on from anderson, cook,. he recognised the importance of pace for the bowling attack and the effectiveness of spin in the middle overs fortunate to have rashid but Morgan bought him in after the 2015 WC loss. rashid hadn't played an ODI for england since 2009. Same for Plunkett. he removed hales when we went astray. he was ruthless in the selection of Archer over Wiley. All these things contributed to the being No 1 in the world and WC favourites
looking at the 2016 side against sri lanka it's almost an identikit side for the 2019 side. but the plan and the method was clear
Genius, perhaps not but England best leader in ODIs, no doubt for me.
Very well said.
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Also of the potential candidates to bat top 3 (Roy, Buttler, Bairstow, Banton, Malan) Malan is the only one who starts slow and accelerates. The others all just go after it immediately, and it seems pretty clear Morgan/England value that.
You are spot on. Read this https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28033633/will-england-dare-leave-dawid-malan-again? (https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28033633/will-england-dare-leave-dawid-malan-again?)
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Essentially captains are determined by the sums of their parts. After the dreadful performance in 2015 it was obvious we needed a revamp.
Is Morgan really a ‘captaincy genius’ ? For me not even close. But the role he was tasked for, he’s perfect for.
We decided flatter pitches and a collection of big hitters was the way forward, in the previous cycle it’s bearing in mind after Pietersen, Morgan was the only other truly dynamic batsman we had.
So in Morgan we had the blueprint. But Bayliss was the real brains for me. His white ball cv is stacked by all sorts of trophies won, BB, IPL and CL. He is one of the greatest limited overs coaches of all time.
Morgan have the right people backing him which helped him achieve his iconic moment.