Sportsmanship is one thing, but changing the culture of a country via sport is quite another.
A World Cup-winning captain, England’s highest one-day and Twenty20 run scorer of all time as well as a driving force behind a fundamental transformation in English cricket, Eoin Morgan’s international career comes to an end today.
Morgan’s effect on the sport in the United States is unparalleled in his generation.
In limited-overs cricket, the Irishman transformed England’s dreary black and white into a magnificent kaleidoscope.
Three times under Morgan, England has smashed the world record for the highest one-day international total. England had reached 300 in ODIs 31 times before to his appointment as captain. It dropped from 131 to 53 during his leadership.
In the span of four years, they transformed a shambolic team into world champions, and in the process, they changed public perceptions of white-ball cricket forever.
Franchise leagues, international teams playing more limited-overs matches.
And a style of play that encourages lengthier versions of the game has all transformed the globe, rightly or unjustly.
Once, limited-overs games were like diaper changes for kids.
Something more
You had to do it, so hold your nose and pray you didn’t get your hands filthy.
When Andrew Strauss, the previous director of cricket, backed Morgan.
The white-ball game was embraced by English cricket with wide arms, arguably tilting the scales too far in the other direction.
There is now a wealth of talent in this country, especially among hitters who can get things going.
Heavily pushing his players to be aggressive in every scenario, Morgan’s style of leadership is now spreading to the England Test team.
New coach Brendon McCullum and Morgan’s longtime friend Brendon McCullum might easily be dubbed “Bazball.”
Ben Stokes wants to follow Morgan as Test captain.
The 35-year-old is considered the best skipper by many.
Even while they were on duty under another captain in Test matches.
In an era when the English cricket team has struggled with racial and ethnic diversity, Morgan welcomed and celebrated his side’s variety.
The Muslim spinner Adil Rashid had informed him, ‘Allah was with us after the World Cup victory.
On the pitch, he kept a low profile, often wearing sunglasses and a hat to conceal his face. Morgan was the game’s leading hat-stacker during the epidemic.
It was a common captain’s tactic to remove the ball from a bowler’s hand while he talked to them.
In the belief that it would assist the bowler to regain their composure.
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