Former England skipper Eoin Morgan is reported to become England’s next white-ball head coach. The reports on Tuesday, July 23, suggested that Eoin Morgan could replace Matthew Mott as the next white-ball coach. It is worth noting that the change in leadership is being looked upon after England’s failed title defense of the ODI and T20 World Cups.
Reports suggested that Mott would leave the post, and England has started to sound out possible candidates. While Eoin Morgan has been linked to the job, the former skipper came forward to quickly debunk such rumors. England’s World Cup-winning former skipper, Eoin Morgan denied media reports of taking over from under-fire Matthew Mott as the team’s coach for limited-overs cricket, but also said that he has the desire to coach in the future.
England’s Dismal performance in 2023 and 2024 World Cup’s under Matthew Mott.
After securing the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia along with the newly-appointed captain Jos Buttler, Mott’s partnership with the Three Lions’ white-ball superstar sank to a low as they failed to defend their 50-over World Cup crown in 2023 in India and the T20 World Cup title in the West Indies and the USA this year.
In the 2023 World Cup, England lost six out of their nine games, including matches to Afghanistan and their arch-rivals India and Australia and were on the verge of missing out on direct qualification to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Though England reached the semifinals of the T20 World Cup, where they lost by 68 runs to India, they had to rely on Australia to beat Scotland in order to advance to the Super Eight.
Eoin Morgan opined that he would love the opportunity to coach a team down the line, but the timing has to be correct. He revealed that, currently, his priority lies with being with his family.
Eoin Morgan surprised to be linked as Matthew Mott’s successor but distances himself from the role post T20 WC 2024 Semi Final exit.
Former England captain Eoin Morgan has distanced himself from the national team’s white-ball coaching role as Matthew Mott has come under the scanner after T20 World Cup 2024. The Irishman asserted that the timing is not right for him to take up the coach’s position.
Mott coached England to their second T20 World Cup title in 2022, but the team has been on a downward trajectory ever since. England were the defending champions in the 50-over and 20-over World Cup in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but were unsuccessful in retaining their crowns.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Eoin Morgan, who retired from international cricket in 2022, said he is surprised to be linked with the role. He said:
“This news is actually news to me. It’s not nice when a coach comes under fire and there is a lot of speculation about his future. Only time will tell about what will happen.”
“I’ve been asked a lot over the last couple months about the role and whether I would take it on. My answer has simply been, the timing for everything in my life at the moment is not right.”
The left-handed batter became the first 50-over World Cup-winning skipper for England in 2019. He triggered England’s white-ball revolution after their 2015 World Cup debacle and it culminated in them lifting the coveted trophy four years later on home soil.
“I’ve got a young family” – Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan added that he has a young family and wants to spend time with them. He said:
“Yes, I want to coach down the line, but I’ve got a young family and I spend a lot more time at home. I’m loving what I’m doing, watching cricket through this.”
Eoin Morgan is considered as perhaps the greatest leader England had. In 356 matches for England, he scored 10,115 runs at an average of 35.61, with 15 centuries and 59 fifties. His best score was 148.
After England’s humiliating group stage exit in the 2015 ODI World Cup, it was captain Morgan who rebuilt the English side with more aggressive talent like Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Alex Hales and Buttler, making up a power-packed, aggressive batting line-up that could play its flashy, attacking and high-risk game irrespective of conditions.
England’s next white-ball assignment is against Australia as the two sides will play 3 T20Is and 5 ODIs in September. Jos Buttler’s captaincy is also under scrutiny after two failed World Cup campaigns.