Matthew Mott will hold England’s best players to account – Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan believes new England white-ball coach Matthew Mott will be unafraid “to hold some of the best players in the world accountable” ahead of their first assignment.

The Morgan-Mott captain-coach partnership starts on Friday in the low-key surroundings of Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam, for the first of three one-day internationals against the Netherlands.

Brought in to split coaching duties alongside Brendon McCullum, who has made a a spellbinding start in charge of the Test side, Mott has vowed not to assert himself too much at the beginning of his reign.

But having overseen sustained success with Australia’s women’s team, Morgan is convinced the Queenslander will be undaunted at speaking up in a changing room containing a number of men’s 50-over World Cup winners.

Morgan said: “One of the attributes when thinking about the future of our white-ball game and what the team require is an experienced coach that brings that hunger for success and isn’t afraid to hold some of the best players in the world accountable in a team environment. Motty brings that.

“Motty is a guy I’ve come across not a lot but certainly at Glamorgan and Kent and had a lot of feedback from (former England coach) Trevor Bayliss. All of it was of someone who is a well-rounded guy who is not afraid to challenge things and drive them forward.”

The decision to divide who supervises the red and white-ball groups was taken by managing director of England men’s cricket Rob Key following the sacking of Chris Silverwood after a disastrous Ashes series.

Silverwood’s reign was blighted by Covid and the bio-secure bubble environments that were necessary for cricket to resume amid the pandemic, so Morgan had some sympathy following the Yorkshireman’s