Morgan confident ahead of tournament opener

Its series win against South Africa may not have ended in a blaze of glory but England captain Eoin Morgan insists his side will not let its confidence drop as it prepares to launch its ICC Champions Trophy campaign later this week.

Following victories at Headingley and the Rose Bowl to secure a series victory, England suffered a dramatic batting collapse in the third and final One-Day International at Lord’s, reduced to 20 for six after just five overs before being bowled out for 153 as South Africa prevailed by seven wickets.

Defeat came just three days before England opens the ICC Champions Trophy against Bangladesh at The Oval, with Morgan’s men favourites to lift the trophy come June 18 – a victory that would mark the side's first world ICC 50-over title.

The team is not looking too far ahead though, with Monday’s loss a sharp reminder of the brutal nature of one-day cricket on the international stage.

But that’s not to say England is not brimming with confidence, with its skipper insisting it has both the players and the determination to meet expectations.

“Monday was a nice reminder of how anything can happen in one-day cricket,” said Morgan, who collected the player of the series award.

“We played some fantastic cricket throughout the series with a lot of positives coming out of it, but it was still a gentle reminder that cricket is a funny old game.

“It’s probably been our biggest blip over the last couple of years, but certainly it was the first hour that caused all the damage.

“It’s not a huge concern to us going into the tournament. A lot of the performances that we have put together as a team over the last couple of years have been formidable against some very strong sides, so we’re looking forward to it as much as anybody.

“Beating South Africa is a huge confidence boost for us. Competing and beating South Africa and the other positives we got out of it and the performances of our key players were great.

“Ben Stokes coming out and scoring a big hundred, and Moeen Ali with a huge contribution as an all-rounder, and ultimately playing in such a close game at the Rose Bowl and getting over the line in a game we shouldn’t have won was a massive positive.”

This year’s tournament marks the second occasion in succession that the ICC Champions Trophy has been played in England and Wales, with the 2019 ICC World Cup also set to see international cricket return to British shores.

It’s home advantage that all England fans hope will fuel fire to the bellies of the players, and Morgan insists it is an opportunity his men will relish as they keep one eye on the silverware.

“We’ve been building towards this tournament, it marks the halfway stage to the 2019 World Cup. All of our preparation has been geared towards the World Cup, but one thing we have lacked over the last couple of years is competition based, must-win games, and the Champions Trophy provides that.

“As part of our development coming into the tournament, every game is a must win and we have prepared every series pre-Champions Trophy to gear towards that. It’s going to be a fantastic tournament.

“We embrace the pressure of being favourites on home soil. It’s flattering to be coming into a tournament like us as favourites, someone must fancy us somewhere.

“We believe we have the potential to win, whether it’s this trophy or the World Cup. It would be nice to win both, but we will certainly have to put in the hard work and beat a lot of good teams to lift the trophy.”

The ICC Champions Trophy (1-18 June) and ICC Women’s World Cup (24 June – 23 July) will both see the best eight ODI teams in the world compete for glory in England & Wales this summer. Tickets available at icc-cricket.com/tickets

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