The former England captain Eoin Morgan has criticized the England team’s management and players for avoiding their media responsibilities. He expressed his frustration with the team’s decision to send fielding coach Carl Hopkinson for media interactions ahead of the match against the Netherlands. He has also said that England’s team looks like a ‘Sinking Ship’.
After their 33-run defeat to arch-rivals Australia, it was Carl Hopkinson who represented the team for media obligations before the game in Pune on November 8. Unfortunately, this loss to Australia resulted in England’s elimination from the tournament, marking their sixth defeat in seven matches.
During an interview with Sky Sports, Morgan strongly criticized the decision to send Hopkinson for media duties and expressed his surprise and shock regarding that choice. The former England captain suggested that either Matthew Mott or senior players within the team should have stepped up to fulfill this responsibility.
“I was surprised by it [seeing Hopkinson put up for media duties]. When you sit in a meeting as a captain or a head coach you make those decisions on the side and when things are going wrong, you need absolute clarity and direction. When you talk about messaging in an interview process, you naturally turn to senior players or your head coach to front up,” said Morgan.
“In certain instances, you could look at it and say, ‘Are they shirking responsibility?’ At the moment, it is a sinking ship and you need people to take responsibility for their actions. It surprised me to see Hopkinson rolled out.
“If it was a Ben Stokes, a Joe Root, a senior voice in the changing room, you would say ‘Right, this is how the messaging is going to work’.”
“You very rarely would send out an assistant coach to give a strong message when the team needs it,” said Morgan.
