In a match that will live long in the minds of England and Australia cricket fans as the ‘Massacre at Trent Bridge’, there were plenty of reasons to smile for Eoin Morgan.
As England beat their own record of the highest-ever ODI total by putting up 481-6 against a hapless Aussie attack, their skipper passed a couple of milestones himself.
Morgan broke Jos Buttler’s record for the fastest ODI half-century by an England batsman by getting to the mark in just 21 balls. En route to his superb fifty, the southpaw went past Ian Bell’s total of 5, 416 runs to become the most successful England batsman in ODI history.
What makes Morgan’s achievements even more remarkable is the fact that the Ireland-born batsman switched to English colours only in 2009.
Nine years later, the 31-year-old carries the hopes of a maiden World Cup for England as they prepare to host the event in their own backyard next year. Since taking over the limited-overs England captaincy full time from Alastair Cook in 2014, Morgan and England have hit new heights while also touching a few lows.
The likes of Alex Hales have flourished under Morgan’s regime.
By his own admission, the 2015 World Cup was a watershed moment for Morgan and England cricket. After failing to qualify for the quarter-finals following a dismal fifth place finish in the seven-team Group A, England were forced to rethink their approach to the limited-overs game.
It was Morgan who advocated turning to a fearless brand of cricket. The left-hander wanted his players to be allowed to play with complete freedom without any fear of retribution if things did not go their way.
It was a brand of cricket moulded in his own image. Morgan had a fearless approach to batting even in his early days for England when the team’s approach was anything but daring.
Morgan has built the team in his own attacking image.
In the end, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) backed their skipper to the hilt in his quest to bring about a radical change and are now reaping the rewards of that inspired decision. The transition to the new approach wasn’t always rosy but Morgan and his men remained impervious to criticism as they continued to back their new method.
Gone were the days of Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell making up England’s top-order as the likes of Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy were thrust into the limelight.
Home series losses to Australia and New Zealand followed after the disastrous World Cup campaign but nothing was going to shake Morgan’s confidence in his approach. It is only over the two seasons that England’s gung-ho approach has started to force the rest of the world take notice.
Since that ill-fated World Cup campaign, England have crossed the 350-run mark a staggering 11 times while touching 400-plus on three separate occasions. They have also completed back-to-back series wins over old foes Australia in a remarkable change in the balance of power between the two sides. In their last 31 ODI clashes, Morgan’s men have been on the losing end only six times.
Now, with less than a year to go for the 10-team global showpiece in England, the hosts are looking pre-tournament favourites after consolidating their grip on the No1 ranking in ODI cricket.
Along the the way, shock defeats like the one to Scotland only recently have been suffered. But through it all, Morgan and England have remained defiant.
That will continue for the next 11 months or so and more records are likely to be broken as England keep playing the Eoin Morgan way.
