Eoin Morgan: “I’m very happy with the role I play within the white ball team and English cricket at the moment… I haven’t played red ball cricket for a long time. I wouldn’t have any interest in the job. It wouldn’t be good at it”; Morgan also feels that the coaching roles should be divided.
England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan has ruled himself out of returning to Test cricket as skipper.
England white ball captain Eoin Morgan has ruled himself out to become captain of the Test squad, instead offering his endorsement to Ben Stokes.
Morgan led England to victory in the 2019 Over-50 World Cup, the culmination of a remarkable turnaround in the team’s white-ball form following a disastrous exit from the group stage in 2015.
Morgan was called upon by some to also lead England’s Test revival after a run of one win in his last 17 Test matches saw Joe Root resign from the role last week.
The last of Morgan’s 16 test caps came 10 years ago, while his most recent red ball game for Middlesex was in 2019.
When asked if he would be interested in the job, Morgan said Sky sports news: “Absolutely not, no.
“I am very happy with the role I play in the white ball team and English cricket at the moment. It has been the part of my career that I am most proud of.”
“My career is firmly focused on World Cups and hopefully maintaining what we’ve built over the last six years is probably the most important part of what I leave behind over time.
“I haven’t played red ball cricket for a long time. I wouldn’t have any interest in work. I wouldn’t be good at it.”
Stokes, who served as Root’s vice-captain, is favored for the job and Morgan backed him to continue leading by example if he were to take over.
“Obviously Ben is a fantastic player, a brilliant leader, although he doesn’t need to have the captain’s armband to lead like he does,” Morgan said.
“The experience of the World Cup final here [at Lord’s] he really showed his true colors in the way he led from start to finish, and throughout the tournament as well. He would certainly be a candidate.
“I think it would be hard to turn down the captaincy. It’s a privileged position to be in. Obviously the circumstances have to be right, but most people who want to take red-ball cricket forward would like to take it on.”
Morgan, who revealed he had spoken to the ECB’s new England men’s cricket manager Rob Key this week, said it was an “exciting time” across all three formats, with a new head coach or coaches to be named.
The 35-year-old himself believes the role needs to be divided, adding: “Just the demands of the game as a whole are now huge, there is almost no rest.
“It’s a huge request for one man to do the job.”
