England’s new white-ball coach, Matthew Mott, gave his backing to his captain, Eoin Morgan, after England’s 3-0 thrashing of the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Morgan’s dismissal for ducks in the opening two games of the series before sitting out the third with a tight groin raised questions over his position but Mott believes those failures with the bat will “light the fire” for the summer ahead.
“He’d love more runs, most batters do. In over 200 games he’s been a very, very good player and I don’t think that’s going to change,” said Mott, sunglasses firmly on, as Dutch children clamoured for autographs after another six-hitting spree on Wednesday.
The two have bonded over a love of golf and chewed the fat over lunch in London before setting off for a Netherlands tour that proved relaxed, happy and victorious. “What I have worked out is that Eoin is an inspirational leader and we’ve already developed a great rapport,” Mott said.
We share a lot of the same ideas; we both put the team at the forefront of our minds and work out how we get the best out of individuals to work as a team. His is a pretty simple approach, he doesn’t out-think it too much, he empowers others and believes in others.
“The players thrive off that. They know he’s got their back. Even when we do have a bad day, I think he’ll be exactly the same person, I really get that sense. Hopefully, I’m a little bit similar there as well.”
England face a packed white-ball schedule with 12 matches in 25 days in July before the T20 World Cup in Australia in October. Mott, who guided Australia’s women’s team to the Elysian fields before being wooed by the ECB, is aware he has taken over a well-oiled machine and is happy to take a watching brief to begin with.
“With Jos [Buttler] stepping in [as captain in the third ODI] and seamlessly transitioning, the team is functioning very well, they get on well together and look out for each other,” he said. “I’m just fostering that as much as I can.
As time goes on there’ll be things I’ll be able to add in from different experiences that I’ve had and I’ll do that at the right time.”
The world record 498 in the first ODI pricked his interest as well as bamboozling the Dutch players and thrilling the travelling supporters.
“That ruthless streak is something great teams have. When they get an opportunity to do something special, they do it.
But I definitely think this team is capable of more. You always want to get better and I don’t think there’s anyone in that changing room who doesn’t think they can.”
