Eoin Morgan signs off as simply the best of England’s one-day captains

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Eoin Morgan is a unique figure in cricket history, an Irish revolutionary who became one of England’s all-time greats. That status was sealed when he lifted the World Cup in 2019. It was a thrilling achievement but it did only happen by the barest of margins – or, as he called it, “the rub of the green”. There is a better reason to put Morgan in the pantheon. He was simply the best of England’s one-day captains, the Brearley of the blitzkrieg.

There was nothing rum about captain Morgan. He was a man with a plan. If this sounds basic, it was beyond some of his predecessors – including even Mike Brearley, who blew a World Cup final by batting too slowly. Morgan’s plan was dead simple: to score faster than the opposition. The batters were there to hand out batterings, the bowlers to take wickets.

In the seven and a half years of his regime, England became the most successful ODI team in the world, winning 82 matches and losing 37 (including those he was absent for). In the previous seven and a half years, they had been eighth in the world (among nations playing regularly) with 79 wins and 78 losses. So Morgan made them twice as good. In T20 his impact was less dramatic, but England still went from seventh among the big fish to third behind India and Pakistan. And they only missed out on a World Cup because of some almighty hitting from Carlos Brathwaite.

A man with a plan has to hold his nerve. Morgan’s was tested in 2015, his first home summer as captain, against New Zealand at Southampton just after breaking the 400 barrier. Bowled