sport news England: Eoin Morgan insists he does not regret retiring from international ... trends now
Eoin Morgan sat in the ECB boardroom at Lord's reflecting on his pioneering career and caught sight of the World Cup he did so much to win displayed high on the wall to his right.
'I didn't see that in here,' said Morgan, who led England to that dramatic Super Over victory against New Zealand three years ago. 'That's pretty cool. It's incredible.
'That just reminds me of the journey. The hardest, most challenging time but also the most enjoyable, culminating in the final here with the best people. Good times.' Then a pause. 'Actually, I think that's a replica. I do. I don't think that's the real thing.'
Eoin Morgan has insisted he has no regrets over his decision to retire from England action
Morgan was always the real deal from the moment Andrew Strauss charged him with transforming England's white-ball cricket in the aftermath of the nadir of the 2015 World Cup and through that journey that peaked on that fabled day at Lord's.
Along the way the Dubliner became one of the most significant figures in English cricket history, the man who changed the white-ball game and has now even seen his blueprint copied by England's Test team through Ben Stokes and his great friend Brendon McCullum.
But it is a journey that has come to an abrupt halt as Morgan has decided to call time on his international career, at 35, within sight of a Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in October that was expected to be his swansong. Instead England will now be led by Jos Buttler, who will be confirmed as Morgan's successor later this week.
Morgan confirmed his decision today, but steps away having won the World Cup in 2019
'It was a little over a week ago,' said Morgan when asked to explain why he was calling it a day now. 'I went to bed having written notes about various different things, team orientated, heading towards the World Cup. How to get there, what we're doing, the normal run of the mill stuff I do.
'Then I woke up next morning with just a completely different feeling, one I'd never had before. And it's hard to describe unless you've been through it. I've talked to a lot of people over the last three years in the lead up to this transition and the most common theme is "when you know, you know". I used to think they were full of s***.
'Genuinely, I used to sit there and think "I'm not sure
