After England’s Ashes whitewash of almost a year ago, the door was pushed open for Eoin Morgan to try to regain a place in the Test team he last played for in February 2012 and he withdrew from the IPL auction. It did not work out that way, but the Middlesex batsman is prepared to do the same again next year if he feels he has a chance of making the Test side.
Paul Downton, the England managing director, had reminded Morgan “there would be more opportunity than in any other year to play Test cricket” and he may want to think about committing himself to county cricket for the whole season rather than having a six-week stint in the IPL first. He withdrew from the auction and committed himself to playing in the championship but Morgan admitted his performances for Middlesex were not stand out enough to win back a Test spot and he must improve if he is to return for England in the long-form of the game.
“I had a disappointing summer,” he said. “Whilst I had a reasonably good start to the year in Australia, we then went straight into the World Twenty20 and I didn’t fire at all. Then we came straight into the English summer. I had maybe two days between getting back from the World T20 and starting the first championship match for Middlesex. I didn’t score enough runs in the first five weeks of the season to get back in the Test team. I didn’t score enough runs throughout the summer. I did reasonably well but didn’t stand out.”
Reflecting on whether he made the right choice to turn down the IPL, Morgan said: “It was, absolutely. That decision has sat well with me for a long time; it’s just that it didn’t work out. I did all right but nothing enough to stand out. It didn’t make me a better international cricketer. It probably made me a better county cricketer.” The 28-year-old remains hopeful of playing Test cricket again and believes that a sustained period of success for England in one-day cricket may be the way back. Thus, he is willing to turn India down again if success in the Sri Lanka series and the Tri-series in 2015 will bring him closer to a recall.
Although Morgan’s immediate priorities are the tour of Sri Lanka, the World Cup that follows and trying to return to Test cricket, he also thinks more widely about changes that might be good for English cricket. With views that closely echo those espoused by Kevin Pietersen in his recent autobiography, Morgan believes that England are being left behind in the world of Twenty20 cricket and changes need to be made.
“If you look at where our domestic T20 competition is at and where our international campaign is at, we’re falling behind and the reason is right there in front of us,” he said. “Guys aren’t exposing themselves enough to the better standard of opposition.”
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2014
