Ahead of the first One Day International of the five-match series against the West Indies, England skipper Eoin Morgan on Wednesday (20th February) urged his teammates to stick with their game on the Caribbean soil, which would not allow them to play a brand of aggressive cricket, to win matches here.
England heading into the five-match ODI series following their Test series loss to the hosts, and Morgan said West Indies are very strong at the moment, therefore, the host can’t take them lightly.
Morgan told reporters on Wednesday, “Coming here poses one of our stronger challenges because the surfaces do not lend themselves to expansive, aggressive cricket — it’s more about sticking to your game plan. Any side can be a threat on the day. West Indies are very strong at the moment and we’re not taking them lightly.”
Meanwhile, England has been touted as top contenders for the World Cup 2019 given their ODI success in recent years and Morgan said that his team were at ease with the tag. He added, “There’s a chance we’ll go in favorites. We’ve spoken about it and don’t mind the tag, we’ve learnt to be at ease with it.”
Morgan signed off by saying, “Every series that we’ve played has almost been a rehearsal for the build-up for the big occasion so I can’t imagine anything is going to change. We’re excited about it because we’ve been building to it for so long.”
Noteworthy, England will play five ODIs and three T20 Internationals against the West Indies starting with the first ODI on Wednesday at Kensington Oval Barbados.
(With Reuters Inputs)
