Eoin Morgan expects to be without multiformat stars during summer T20Is

Morgan was speaking following a defeat in the T20I series finale against India, during which he had the rare luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal

Eoin Morgan expects his England side to be without its multiformat players during summer T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Morgan was speaking following a defeat in the T20I series finale against India, during which he had the rare luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.

However, he suggested that a repeat of such circumstances during a busy English summer would be unlikely, especially with England facing India and New Zealand in seven Tests between June and September on the back of a taxing start to 2021 that began in January with a Test series win in Sri Lanka.

“It’s just too much to ask,” said Morgan. “And given the winter guys have had around being in a bubble. It will be dependent on how flexible it is to come in and out of our bio-secure environment that we have during our summer and whether they can see their families or not.

“Also, we’ve been lucky with injuries so far, but we can’t always have our fast bowlers as fit as we would like.”

Following the summer, England face a huge back-end to the year as well, with a return to Asia for white-ball trips to Bangladesh and Pakistan, before the T20 World Cup in India and a subsequent Ashes series in Australia.

With significant changes anticipated for the summer, Morgan added that the likes of Moeen Ali and Sam Billings – both of whom have watched on as spectators during the five T20Is – will be given chances.

^{Morgan suggested that he would not have Ben Stokes at his disposal during the summer}

“I think we’re too far out from the World Cup to see who could be in and out of the squad,” he explained. “What we will have throughout the summer is opportunities for those guys to stake their claim.

“I think that’s one of the really good sides of not having your best players available the whole time: you tend to grow as a squad – we do have a lot of talented guys who don’t have opportunity that often and have been in and around the side. There will be opportunities for those guys to stake their claim.”

For those heading to the Indian Premier League in the coming weeks, Morgan added his hope that players would make the most of the competition, given the opportunity it afforded for quality T20 cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup in similar conditions later in the year.

“Taking advantage of the upcoming IPL is going to be huge,” he stressed. “As a team and individuals, we don’t want to stand still. We want to continue to move forward. Any opportunity guys get at the IPL, we want to try to make the most of it because we’re going to be playing at home all summer and then we’re going to Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“But there’s a limited opportunity to get our best XI in those games. So, I think the experience over the next couple of months is probably the most valuable.”

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