Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes have praised white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan, explaining him as a “phenomenal leader” while Morgan registered two successive ducks against the Netherlands and missed Wednesday’s down because of a tight crotch.
Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes have praised white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan, explaining him as a “phenomenal leader”. Morgan drove England to their initial 50-over World Cup title in 2019, yet he is himself without a half-century in one-day internationals and Twenty20s for nearly 12 months.
The left-handed batter registered two successive ducks against the Netherlands and missed Wednesday’s down because of a tight crotch, which England won by eight wickets and finished a 3-0 ODI decisive win.
His absence was depicted as ‘prudent’. But regardless of whether the form and fitness issue continues for Morgan, Jos Buttler, who remained in as captain for the last game against the Netherlands, demanded Morgan retains the backing of his side.
“There is certainly no questioning of his position from within the camp. I cannot put into words what he has achieved. Everyone always talks about his captaincy but you forget what a brilliant batsman he has been for England in over 200 ODIs – that does not just go away overnight. Everyone in the team is backing him,”
Sky Sports quoted Buttler as saying.
Test skipper Ben Stokes also backed his white-ball counterpart.
“Well, he has only had two low scores so I would not say he is going through a hard time at the moment. I think the press are the only ones giving him a hard time and I think the players have shown it is not an issue with them,”
he said.
“People are allowed to not score many runs and more than that he is our captain. He is a phenomenal leader and always will be so I have got no issues with anything going on with him at the moment,”
he added.
Another subplot of this Netherlands series has been the form of Jos Buttler, who completed as a joint-top scorer for England alongside Phil Salt with 248.
Buttler was in outstanding form in the final match of the series, scoring an unbeaten 86 off 64 balls.
“I would have to say yes,”
said Buttler, when asked if he was in the form of his life.
“The IPL was incredibly special personally to have a tournament like that, I surprised myself. I think what is important for us in white-ball cricket in England is we talk about playing in a particular fashion and we must try and live that to the max. Of course, there is a bit of a risk element to that way of playing but it is what we ask of everyone,”
he added.
Buttler’s great form raises the chance of a test return under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, only a couple of months after he had a disheartening Ashes series in which he averaged 15.28.
“I have not had any conversations with anyone about that. I am very happy with where I am at, at the moment. It might not ever be a question that has to be answered,”
he said.