England captain Eoin Morgan: ‘Dawid Malan has been outstanding’

England are not only the limited overs trailblazer on the field‚ but seemingly off it with their coded signals.

While they haven’t raised any eyebrows from SA‚ they’ve seen England’s team management and senior players fielding questions with regards to their validity and legality.

England’s captain Eoin Morgan said they’ll be continuing with the party trick‚ especially if it has positive outcomes for them.

“We’ll definitely continue with it and give it enough sample size to see if it makes a difference to our decision-making on the field‚ or if it improves our performance. It may also tell us about how we take in information during a game‚” Morgan said.

England may be world champions‚ but they’ve also got the 2023 Cricket World Cup in mind‚ something Morgan doesn’t forget.

“We’re looking to win. We don’t have a full-strength side here. Since the World Cup‚ the ODI campaign has been about building a squad in view of the next 50-over World Cup‚” Morgan said.

“It’s quite a while a way and the priority now is T20 cricket with back-to-back World Cups in mind. With that‚ and the games that we’ve played‚ we’ve seen a lot of exciting talent during this summer and throughout last winter where guys took their opportunities while others played some great games of cricket.

“SA is a strong side and they will pose a lot of questions towards us‚ especially in their own conditions‚ so I’m looking forward to that.”

Another issue England have to negotiate is how T20 series top-run scorer and No.1-ranked T20 batsman Dawid Malan can be integrated into the 50-over unit.

The younger and proven Joe Root occupies the No.3 spot‚ the one Malan is eyeing‚ but again‚ Morgan’s got the future and the evolving game in mind.

“Dawid has been outstanding since he came into our setup. He hasn’t had too many opportunities in the 50-over shirt‚” Morgan said.

“If I remember‚ the last time he played was in Dublin where he got injured. We’re not short of guys who can bat at the top of the order and Dawid is in consideration outside of the squad.

“He’s of similar age to me and we don’t know what our bodies will do in two or three years’ time and where the 50-over game will be.

“If it’s going to continue to replicate T20 cricket and the scores continue to get higher and the intensity rises‚ is that going to put more demands on each player? Is a 36 or 37 year old going to be able to maintain the intensity of a World Cup game?

“Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves.”