Eoin Morgan believes England will face tough conditions in their ODI series Caribbean
England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has said the varying conditions the team will encounter during their one-day international series in the Caribbean are some of the “toughest” they will face.
The visitors will play in Barbabos, Grenada and St Lucia during across five matches in their penultimate series before the World Cup, which begins in England in May 2019.
Morgan feels if England are able to come through the test against Windies they will be setting themselves up well for the World Cup.
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“It’s almost the toughest conditions we will play under,” the 32-year-old told Sky Sports. “When we were last here in 2017 it was a huge challenge for us because the way we play doesn’t lend itself to conditions out here.
“You jump from island to island and play against good opposition in very different conditions. It is about learning on your feet. We all know the identity of the team is a very positive, aggressive manner in which we play.
“Growing that part of our game [to adapt] only makes us a more rounded squad and team and prepares ourselves for the World Cup.
“It is pretty obvious on a good day we have the ability to compete and beat some of the best sides in the world.”
Off the field, the impending qualification of pace bowler Jofra Archer, which will happen in March following a change to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s eligibility rules, is something Morgan acknowledges will have to come into consideration ahead of the World Cup.
The 23-year-old seamer has shone in last couple of seasons in the Indian Premier League, Big Bash and for his county Sussex, with his searing pace and accuracy confounding many batsmen.
Morgan expects discussions if Archer can offer more than the wealth of bowlers – who the international skipper singled out for praise for their match-winning performances in recent games – already at England’s disposal to happen.
“Jofra is an exceptional player,” Morgan added. “He travels around the world playing in all different leagues and demands a lot of attention and I think the attention he gets is through performances and nothing else.
“When you have a player like that, that can add a lot of value, we will have to ask ourselves questions that we do in every selection meeting.
“Will he add value? Will he add more value then anyone else already in the squad at the moment? I think when he does qualify we will have that conversation.
“I will have a little bit of a say [on if Archer is picked]. I do sit in and give my part and views on selection but ultimately it will be Ed Smith’s decision.
“When we played out in the West Indies in 2017 two of our best bowlers throughout were Liam Plunkett and Steven Finn.
“The area in the last year and a half, two years that has probably dominated our performances has been our bowling, one of the reasons that we won in Australia and New Zealand was down to our bowlers.
“We didn’t put in unbelievable batting performances along the way it was the performances with the ball that got us over the line most of the time.”
Despite being the No 1 ranked ODI team in the world and heading into the World Cup as favourites, Morgan is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
The 2016 World T20 final, in which England were unable to defend 21 runs off the last over as Windies batsman Carlos Brathwaite struck Ben Stokes for three sixes, remains a cautionary tale.
“I’m not dreaming of lifting the World Cup,” Morgan said. “I have played cricket for too long to know not to get carried away with that thought at all.
“If anyone needs a reminder the 2016 World Cup final [it is] where we couldn’t defend 21 and Carlos Brathwaite came out and played those unheard of four balls. I don’t think you can get carried away, it is one day at a time.”
Watch the first one-day international between Windies and England live on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm on Wednesday. You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
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