Eoin Morgan chuckles as he reflects upon the fact that Shane Warne won the inaugural Indian Premier League: 'I hope that's a good omen.'
Morgan, of course, secured some significant silverware of his own, orchestrating England's 2019 World Cup glory alongside Warne's fellow Australian Trevor Bayliss and now forms the most intriguing captain-coach combination during the first season of the Hundred.
'I've had loads of interaction with him,' Morgan tells Sportsmail. 'I was in Australia last winter and we spoke a lot.
Eoin Morgan is hopeful the fact that Shane Warne (centre) won the inaugural Indian Premier League is a good omen for London Spirits
Morgan has secured some significant silverware of his own, orchestrating England's 2019 World Cup glory
'Given the first ball has been such a long time coming in this competition, we've been talking tactics for so long, flipping ideas and seeing what we'll roll with.
'It's my first time working with him and I was blown away by how engaged and on the edge of things he is. Having not spent a lot of time with him before - but knowing he has so many things going on in his life, I thought he might not be up to date but he is fanatical about cricket to a different degree.
'He knows pretty much every player, has a view on everyone, where they can get better and what they need to do. And it's all done with the level of enthusiasm that is just infectious.'
The most recent decision for two of cricket's most innovative thinkers was to select the Lord's-based London Spirit's wildcard: Middlesex's Blake Cullen, who is one of the most promising fast bowlers in the country.
The duo now form the most intriguing captain-coach combination during the first season of the Hundred
The Hundred has been met by English cricket's established fanbases with the kind of defensive resistance of which Giorgio Chiellini would be proud but Morgan insists the concentration of top talent across eight teams — 13 years after Rajasthan Royals became the IPL's first champions — can help launch the careers of players like Cullen, 19.
'From a playing point of view, to have your own competition like this — a filtered version of what has existed since limited-overs cricket started, with fewer teams, more talent and more emphasis on an ever-evolving game — is unbelievably exciting,' Morgan says.
'We have sat and watched since the start of the IPL and along has come the Big Bash, the Caribbean Premier League, tournaments that have given domestic players the opportunity to headline big events.
'One of the big things that the Hundred can deliver is to give a chance to domestic cricketers who are unknown names to become recognisable.
