The former England captain is all for backing younger players but believes the big guns should be back in a major world tournament
Will Root and Stokes make their ODI return? • PA Images/Getty
Eoin Morgan believes that England must recall Joe Root and Ben Stokes to their white-ball set-up ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Root and Stokes last played ODIs at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, where England’s attempt to defend the title they won for the first time under Morgan’s leadership in 2019 culminated in an ignominious group-stage exit. Neither player will feature in the three-match series against West Indies which starts later this month, but England have hinted they are still in the mix.
Stokes was unavailable for England’s 3-2 series defeat against Australia last month due to injury, though would have been unlikely to feature regardless, while Root was rested to give him a break between Test series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England were also missing Mark Wood and Jos Buttler through injury, with Harry Brook captaining in Buttler’s absence.
“At the moment, I’m happy to back the younger players,” Morgan said at the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai on Tuesday. “In the recent series against Australia, they found a template. Australia, you have to commend how good they are at the moment in all formats of the game. But when you put them up against a side that, at stages, didn’t have [Jofra] Archer, no Wood, Stokes and Root as well, no Buttler, that’s half your England team.
“The run chase at Durham, when Harry Brook scored that magnificent hundred and then just went on to find his feet as captain… the template that they found in that game, I thought, is one that really suits the players that they’ve selected. I would encourage them to continue with that template and look ahead to the Champions Trophy.”
England only play six more ODIs before the Champions Trophy next year: three in the Caribbean, and three more in India in early February. Morgan believes that the West Indies series will provide their younger players with an opportunity to make their cases for inclusion, but that Brendon McCullum should bring the big guns back when he takes over as white-ball coach in January.
“Ben Stokes has already said that he hasn’t had the call yet from Baz as to whether he will play or not,” Morgan said. “If that call comes, obviously he would love to play. In my eyes, they’ve got to come into a major world tournament and look to win it, and that means trying to find the best team – and for me, Stokes and Root are in that best team.
“The younger players playing in the upcoming series against the West Indies, and then coming here [India] in February, the opportunity is there in front of your face. And that opportunity can be quickly taken away when those big names come back.”
