Spin might not play as a big a role in the UAE in October-November as anticipated, says England captain
Morgan, however, suggested that venues in the UAE were used to a heavy load of games, and that based on his previous experiences playing there, spinners should not be expected to be significantly more effective than seamers.
“He’s a guy that can take time and can go through the gears whereas actually, the majority of our team and the majority of our batting XI can’t. So when the scores are a little bit lower, he doesn’t have to push himself as much as he normally does or has done in an England shirt to date”
Eoin Morgan on Dawid Malan
“The IPL was played there after I can’t remember what tournament when we were there last time around [in 2020] and the wicket was still fine, good, held together really well. The curators there did a great job. I don’t think they will [spin]. They might, but I don’t think they will. If you go IPL and then you have the very start of the World Cup in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai as opposed to having it in Oman as well, that might play a part but I think they can host a lot of cricket. They’ve been used to it for a while.”
“It’s going to be role-dependent,” Morgan said. “Hopefully our fixtures and venues are announced before we have to announce the squad and then we can map out the roles that we might need in various different strongest XIs and then we can work back from there. If we end up playing all our games at Abu Dhabi, or all our games at Sharjah, it creates different challenges. If they’re spread out, we’d need a more versatile squad.
1:01
How long was Liam Livingstone’s monster six?
“We want as many options as possible. We are continually monitoring different guys. There are certain players we look at that that could have avenues in: guys that do things differently, left-armers, guys that bowl at pace or have a huge impact on the game, predominantly hit boundaries with the bat. There is still opportunities for guys to do that in the Hundred, and have an outside chance.”
“Just because he’s had a quiet series doesn’t mean he’s not a good player,” Morgan said. “He’s done exceptional things for us over a long period of time. I think today’s game, the way he played actually suited his game more than most. He’s a guy that can take time and can go through the gears whereas actually, the majority of our team and the majority of our batting XI can’t. So when the scores are a little bit lower, he doesn’t have to push himself as much as he normally does or has done in an England shirt to date.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98