There have been rumors around for a couple of days that England's white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan is going to call it quits on his international career. Morgan might resign on Tuesday (June 28) morning, according to numerous reports in the British media.
In a discussion with select media on Monday (June 27), former England spinner Graeme Swann was questioned about Morgan and the kind of legacy he will leave behind.
Swann was effusive in his praise, claiming that if Morgan is not given a job right away after his career is over, there would be something “crazy” about English cricket.
"It's a great question. I tell you what, the legacy is quite simple. We have won a World Cup, we went from being almost an embarrassment in the 2015 World Cup, even though Eoin was made captain for that, it wasn't Eoin's team, that was still the old school English ODI cricket with the old ideas. We were awful really, we had not embraced the new way of playing cricket, the ultra-aggressive approach. Eoin Morgan, I do not know if you guys know this, he was given basically freedom by Andrew Strauss after 2015 to reshape England's ODI cricket with his own vision," said Swann in a select media group call organized by Sony Network.
"Basically, he realized there was no point in picking a Test team to play ODI games. That was not the way, he brought exciting new players, believing they could do anything. They nearly scored 500 2-3 times and it all boils down to Eoin Morgan's leadership. I do not think we can overstate how amazing it has been and his own form has suffered recently. I saw after the games against Netherlands, he said that his body has not responded well," he added.
"I know exactly what that means, I have been in that situation. I know Morgan really well; he won't just hang on because he can. He is a proud man, if he cannot justify his place as batter or athlete then he won't play, he will stand down. It would be a testament to the great man that he won't hang on just because he could. He has done an incredible job, if he stands down as captain and is not given a role immediately, in charge of some facet of English ODI cricket, then there would be something crazy about England cricket." the former spinner stated.
Morgan, who began playing for Ireland in international cricket, has set records for the Three Lions by representing the nation in 225 ODIs and 115 T20Is.
His career totals include 7701 runs at an average of 39.29, 14 hundreds, and 47 fifty-pluses in 248 ODIs. In 115 T20Is, he has also scored 2458 runs.
Morgan's Test statistics are a touch disappointing as he was sidelined after scoring 700 runs at an average of 30.43 in 16 matches.
Morgan just withdrew from the final ODI against the Netherlands owing to injury. He has been struggling with bad form and physical issues.
(SONY NETWORK INPUTS)
