ENGLAND CAPTAIN EOIN Morgan has urged his side to enjoy the pressure and expectation that comes with opening the World Cup
Tournament hosts and favourites England launch the showpiece event against South Africa at the Oval today.
Their last warm-up match saw them rout Afghanistan by nine wickets at the south London venue on Monday, with England dismissing the outsiders for just 160 and then reaching their target in fewer than 18 overs.
The Dubliner was back in the side for this match after recovering from a finger injury but took no active part as he did not field and wasn’t required to bat in an England innings where opener Jason Roy scored 89 not out on his Surrey home ground.
England, top of the one-day international rankings, won 4-0 at home to Pakistan in a recent series before a team missing several first-choice players suffered a 12-run warm-up defeat by world champions Australia in Southampton on Saturday.
“We have felt ready the last week or so, even if we didn’t play these warm-up games,” said Morgan. “As a whole I was very happy with the preparation.
“When you play as convincingly as that it builds confidence in the hard work you’ve done both in training and in the game and the other side of it is that it gives us the afternoon and evening to switch off — not playing another close game against a strong side.”
Now Morgan has urged England to relish the challenge of facing the Proteas first up in the World Cup.
Everyone is going to feel that anticipation and excitement of playing the first game and it will be different than any other day and I will be encouraging guys to embrace it,” he said.
He added yesterday, of how big of an impact a win would have: “It would mean a huge amount.
“The World Cup alone raises the profile of the game and is a platform for every young kid in this country to have a hero or have the inspiration to pick up a ball or a bat.
“To go on and win it, I couldn’t imagine what that would do.”
The England cricket squad and backroom staff have spent time with England football manager Gareth Southgate, whose side revitalised interest and affection in the national team on their way to the semi-finals of last year’s soccer World Cup in Russia.
“We did do a session with Gareth, it was brilliant,” recalled Morgan.
“He got up and talked about his journey with the team in and around the World Cup, but in the build-up, as well, and how they built bigger expectations and came together more as a group.
“I think everybody within the room listening who has been involved with our team over the last four years recognised that — we started exactly where they did. Recognised what had happened in the past, drawn a line under it, tried to do things differently and move forward and enjoyed the challenge of that.”
But the expectations surrounding England’s men’s football and cricket teams are wide apart, with Morgan saying his side had received a very different reaction when they were beaten by Pakistan in the 2017 semi-finals of the one-day Champions Trophy in Cardiff.
“It’s amazing. He did brilliantly. Got to the semi-final and everybody says it’s great. We got knocked out of the Champions Trophy semi-final, and we’re crap,” added Morgan to laughter from the assembled media.
Gavan Casey is joined by Murray Kinsella and Sean Farrell for a review of the 2018/19 season, and cast an eye forward to next year and the Rugby World Cup in Japan.:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
