England Captain Eoin Morgan Slams Call for Smaller Bats
Eoin Morgan has joined the chorus against ICC's decision to check sized of bats in a bid to make cricket a more fair game.
England skipper Eoin Morgan has criticised as "absolutely ridiculous" suggestions that the size of cricket bats should be reduced after the World Cup. (Complete coverage of the World Cup)
The International Cricket Council could crack down on bat sizes to prevent players from gaining unfair advantage from hefty willows which can send even mishits into the stands, reports say.
But Morgan, speaking in Sydney ahead of two World Cup warm-up games against the West Indies starting on Monday, said he disagreed that larger bats were a problem.
"I think it's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous," he said Saturday.
"The fact that you can concentrate on the bat size where the rule changes have been made so that you bowl with two new balls.
"The ball is never any older than 25 overs and you have an extra man in the circle.
"That's a point in itself. I've not come across a bat yet where I've said 'this is ridiculous'."
Morgan said he was confident England could perform against an in-form Australia in the World Cup, which is jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand and begins on February 14.
Australia sealed a crushing 112-run victory over England in the final of the ODI tri-series which included with India, but Morgan's men had two wins against India and a close-run game against Australia earlier in the series.
"The refocus has to be us as a side," Morgan said.
"If we front up and play as well as we can then of course we can beat Australia."
"They've had the momentum throughout the summer but we've had guys performing consistently and this is what we're striving to do."