Eoin Morgan was not in the trenches with his England teammates but everyone is coming back from Bangladesh in one piece so there wasn’t really any danger in the first place and he should take a long, hard look at himself.
That is the gist of the latest Daily Mail column on England captain Eoin Morgan after his teammates defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in a One Day International series.
Led by Jos Buttler, England were pegged back to 1-1 before clinching the decider with a gritty display.
Morgan opted to stay home due to concerns for his personal safety. So did Alex Hales. But, as England captain [of their limited overs teams], Morgan was expected to front up, dig in, get in the trenches or whatever WWI parlance you want to attach to playing a cricket match on foreign soil.
As we previously noted, Morgan has played more than 200 games for England since he switched from the Irish cricket team. His batting, fielding and captaincy has been crucial in series wins over Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
His years of service meant nothing to many, in the public and media, when he informed the English Cricket Board he would be staying away from a country that suffered a major terrorist attack as recently as July.
Wonder if Captain Coward Eoin Morgan was at the ground today? Not missed and not wanted.Made himself an absolute pariah
— Alex (@Alex_G_79) September 23, 2016
Mail columnist Oliver Holt believes Morgan is an “embarrassment” and is not happy that he will resume ODI captaincy duties in January 2017. He declares:
‘The prospect of his recall is hard to stomach. This is a man who still, apparently, considers himself a leader but who, despite the considered advice of the ECB’s trusted and highly-respected security director, Reg Dickason, that it was safe to tour Bangladesh; decided that he would really rather not stand together with his players in Dhaka and Chittagong.
‘Welcome to England’s first non-playing captain; a guy who waves his team off to foreign climes when the going gets tough and rejoins them when it gets easier. Welcome to the guy who chooses the day his mates land in Dhaka to send out a tweet boasting about the hospitality he has been enjoying from Guinness at a boozy session in Ireland.’
Morgan has been in India and Bangladesh, in recent years, when, respectively, a bomb went off at one ground and there were riots due to political tensions. He firmly stated in the past that he would not tour again where his personal safety was under question.
The 30-year-old took a personal decision and it should be left at that. Tweeting this out [below] when his teammates were touring in Bangladesh is ill advised but slating Morgan as an embarrassing individual who lacks courage and has lost the respect of the dressing room is extreme and insulting.
Thanks to @GuinnessIreland for their amazing hospitality as usual 🍻👕
— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16) October 2, 2016
Eoin Morgan is from Dublin and he is proud to call himself Irish. He is proud to represent England too and has done so to a high, matchwinning standard over the years.
He could easily walk away from the never-ending tour schedule that is international cricket and make a mint in shorter format competitions – much like Kevin Pietersen [another pilloried cricketer] – but he is choosing to stay on.
For that, he is getting it in the ear from sanctimonious columnists and having to ignore another flood of social media abuse.
Whether you agree with Morgan’s decision or not, let him get back to doing what he does best for England – winning games.
The fact that Holt writes about there being a plethora of Rapid Action Battalion trucks at each ground England played at tells you all you need to know about how safe a country Bangladesh is at present.
the place obviously isn't safe but there is an awful lot of security around the touring party that makes it an acceptable risk
— Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) October 15, 2016
Acceptable risk?
Give me strength.
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