Eoin Morgan on England’s Defeat

“Beaten England need ‘honest conversations’ – but I still think they will lift the trophy.”

I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 opener playing out quite like that.

New Zealand had an incredible day and for England, it was a crushing defeat. Even if they had scored 30 more runs to get up to a par score, I don’t think they bowled well enough to defend it, which makes it harder to take. Enough England batters got starts but it never felt like they struck many blows throughout the innings. In many ways, New Zealand didn’t get them out, they got themselves out. But credit has to go to Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra played. Conway put England under pressure from the very first ball and for Ravindra to play like that on his World Cup debut was exceptional. He was pure class.

From an English perspective, we have come to have a level of expectation in Jos Buttler’s team that regardless of the surface, he wants them to take an aggressive approach. We didn’t see that in a strong enough way and what this defeat does, in dramatic fashion, is emphasise the way to play throughout this World Cup. Their strongest suit going forward is to be more aggressive and I think that will be Jos’ message – ‘we need to go harder’.

One thing is for sure – one defeat will not derail their campaign. Eight of this squad were there in 2019, when we lost three group stage matches on the way to lifting the trophy, and they will definitely lean on that experience. There is no side that goes from start to finish at a World Cup without experiencing some sort of adversity, whether it’s losing games or having hiccups within games themselves. This will be no different.

There will be a lot of calm heads in the dressing room, but there will also be a lot of honesty. Having shared a changing room with these guys, all the messages are built on a lot of thought and very rarely are there any flippant comments or people targeted. There is an awareness they are all in this together and collectively all trying to achieve the same plan by sticking to the same process.

I tipped England to win the competition in the build-up and I still have complete faith. Nothing about today’s performance worries me when it comes to believing they can win the trophy. The advantage of having this format is that one bad day doesn’t ruin your tournament, when previously one bad day could have you home within a week. I still think they can and will win this World Cup.

Ben Stokes’ return will be key if they are to do that. The difference he makes is invaluable and there is no measure on the impact he has in a changing room. He believes he can achieve anything from any sort of circumstances and has backed that up in match-winning performances. He breeds confidence and belief.

After a defeat like that, he will no doubt be speaking in that changing room. His words hold a lot of weight because they are backed up by performance. He will have had a great view of the whole game and hopefully he’ll be back on the field as soon as possible.

Any other changes for England’s next match, against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, will likely be dependent on conditions. It’s traditionally a bit more seam-friendly, so there may be an opportunity for Reece Topley or David Willey, while if Stokes is fit he will obviously come straight back in.

On a personal level, it is brilliant to be out here and the level of excitement is immense. It’s way more enjoyable being able to sit back and enjoy a World Cup as a fan. The focused nature and hard work you put in to deliver performances and wins as a player, I’m definitely enjoying it more now. I was far more excited turning up to today’s game than I ever allowed myself to be as a player.

I didn’t engage in many emotions throughout the course of my career, simply because it didn’t allow me to be the player that I was – it became a hindrance to my performance, being emotional when making decisions just didn’t work for me. Now, it is a pleasure and a privilege to sit back and watch these great players represent England in white-ball cricket.

New Zealand have had quite an incredible day, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen them outplaying this England team in such a fashion. Even if England had scored 30 more to get up to in and around a par score, I don’t think they bowled well enough to defend it. It makes it harder to take. New Zealand controlled the game really well. Enough England batters got starts but it never felt like they struck many blows throughout the innings. We’ve come to have a level of expectation in Jos Buttler’s team that regardless of the surface, he wants them to take an aggressive approach. We didn’t see that in a strong enough way. In many ways, New Zealand didn’t get them out, they got themselves out. The level of expectation on the bowlers then had to rise but right from the first ball of the chase, Devon Conway put England under pressure and it didn’t stop from thereon in. The ball skidded on a bit more than in the England innings but the dominance with which Conway and Ravindra played was exceptional. For a player making his World Cup debut, you don’t expect that kind of enforcing innings. He was pure class and England could not find a way of taking wickets, which makes it a crushing defeat.

When you play in a side like England are at the moment, you’re always trying to set the tone and strike the first blow. But regardless of how much you talk about it, it’s very difficult to avoid the way people will come into playing against England. They are a very talented side and one defeat will not derail their campaign. But what it does is emphasise in dramatic fashion the way to play throughout this World Cup. Their strongest suit going forward is to be more aggressive.

In the recent series in England, when they beat New Zealand 3-1, after the first defeat Jos Buttler said he wanted the team to be more aggressive. The message was ‘we need to go harder as a team’. You’re not trying to creep up to a par score, you want to get beyond that and win the game with the bat so you don’t have to rely on your bowling the whole time. The balance for this game was the extra batter, so you’d say it was England’s strongest batting line-up – barring Ben Stokes.

They will definitely lean on that experience. There is no side that goes from start to finish at a World Cup without experiencing some sort of adversity, whether it’s losing games or having hiccups within games themselves. This will be no different. Eight of the squad were there in 2019 and I’ve no doubt that yes, there will be a lot of calm heads in the dressing room, but there will also be a lot of honesty. Having shared a changing room with these guys, all the messages are built on a lot of thought and very rarely are there any flippant comments or people targeted. It’s very much an awareness they are all in this together and collectively all trying to achieve the same plan by sticking to the same process.

The difference Ben Stokes makes is invaluable, there is no measure on the impact he has in a changing room. He has been that guy who believes he can achieve anything from any sort of circumstances and has backed that up in match-winning performances. He breeds confidence and belief. After a defeat like that, he will no doubt be speaking in that changing room. His words hold a lot of weight because they are backed up by performance. He will have had a great view of the whole game and hopefully he’ll be back on the field as soon as possible.

Changes for the Bangladesh game will be dependent on conditions. Traditionally up there, you’d say it’s a bit more seam-friendly being further north so they may look to add Reece Topley or David Willey for Moeen Ali or Liam Livingstone. And if Ben Stokes is fit, he obviously comes straight back in.

I have complete faith. Nothing about today’s performance worries me when it comes to believing they can win the trophy. The advantage of having this format is that one bad day doesn’t ruin your tournament, when previously one bad day could have you home within a week. I still think they can and will win this World Cup.

It has been brilliant. It’s way more enjoyable being able to sit back as a fan. The focused nature and hard work you put in to deliver performances and wins as a player, I’m definitely enjoying it more. I was far more excited turning up to today’s game than I ever allowed myself to be as a player. I didn’t engage in many emotions throughout the course of my career, simply because it didn’t allow me to be the player that I was – it became a hindrance to my performance, being emotional when making decisions just didn’t work for me. It is a pleasure and a privilege to sit back and watch these great players represent England in white-ball cricket. We are littered with unbelievable talent. The level of excitement out here is immense.