England limited-overs skipper deflects questions over his international captaincy as it's revealed he'll skipper Thunder in Watson's absence
Morgan to captain Thunder in BBL
Eoin Morgan will today be announced as Sydney Thunder’s interim captain for the start of their KFC Big Bash League campaign.
However, it is the Irish-born batsman’s leadership of England’s limited-overs teams that has been the focus of much speculation back in the UK since he chose to miss his adopted country’s tour of Bangladesh earlier this year over security concerns.
Morgan’s temporary leadership of the Thunder is no big surprise given he led the side in a warm-up game against a Bangladesh XI at Spotless Stadium on Friday in place of the injured Shane Watson.
Yet his decision not to travel to Bangladesh for England’s three-match one-day series back in October was.
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Morgan will play five BBL games for the Thunder, starting with the Sydney derby against the Sixers on Tuesday, before flying out to India early next month to lead England on the limited-overs leg of their tour of India.
Despite the debate over the 30-year-old’s suitability to lead England after pulling out of the Bangladesh trip, he has no regrets and believes he still retains the support of the players.
Only Morgan and opener Alex Hales chose to take up the option given to them by the England & Wales Cricket Board of missing Bangladesh following the terror attack in Dhaka, the country’s capital, last July.
In his first interview since controversially opting out of a tour that passed off without any incident, Morgan said: "I wasn’t comfortable travelling because of security concerns and I weighed up the question 'would I be able to perform as a captain and as a player given the security concerns in Bangladesh?'
"No, I’ve no regrets I’m still comfortable with it. It is something I considered before confirming my decision to the ECB. I tried to imagine all the different circumstances and didn’t feel comfortable enough in my mind to go and be able to perform."
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But does he still have the support of England’s players? "Yeah absolutely," he said. "We’re a tightly knit group who back each other’s decisions no matter what the case and in particular in this case where every decision for the individual was his own and whatever was right for him.
"I have had a great deal of support, everyone who I trust in a tight knit circle has supported me, everyone within the game that I trust has supported me, players ex- and current who I lean on for big decisions. It's been really good, it was a difficult decision to make and I don't think a lot of people would have made it but I am certainly happy with the decision."
Morgan had cited past sub-continental security scares, including a bomb blast outside the ground in Bangalore during an Indian Premier League game he was involved in six years ago, as a reason why he missed Bangladesh.
But asked why he has since travelled back to play in the IPL four more times, Morgan, referencing Australia’s postponed tour of Bangladesh last year, said: “I think one thing that had changed from 2010 in India was that other teams had travelled there and security had increased.
"I think going to Bangladesh and being the first Western team to travel there since the terrorist attack and the fact that Australia had pulled out even before the terrorist attack happened, was another reason."
Australia did not travel to Bangladesh in 2015 because of a specific threat flagged up to them by the Government.
There was no such advice given to England, whose tour was cleared after a rigorous safety assessment by Reg Dickason, the Australian who is the ECB’s security chief.
"All his advice is completely independent and he has been in the business for a very long time but ultimately the previous experiences that I’ve been through have contributed a small bit to my decision," said Morgan.
"As I explained before I made the decision having been in circumstances where security has let me down, if there is ever a risk or doubt in my mind about travelling somewhere I have to reconsider my options.”
There was a certain irony that Morgan was facing Bangladesh in Sydney on Friday in a game the Thunder won by six wickets, although he admitted he didn’t find the situation strange at all.
"Not really," he said. "There wasn’t much made of it. We were lucky to get a game with the rain around."
As for the Big Bash, Morgan, who will depart for India on January 5, said: "I play five games and the last one will be on the fourth and I’ll arrive in India five hours before the team."