HE’S taken Twenty20 by storm – now Eoin Morgan has the chance to prove he can do it at Test level, and I’ll be intrigued to see how he gets on.
Morgan has concentrated on making an impact in the shorter forms of the game, but he is likely to need a period of adjustment if he is to prove as effective in the five-day format. One of his biggest strengths is his ball-striking, which comes from his fantastic hand-eye co-ordination. He also has an amazingly cool head in tight situations, something that’s particularly important in Twenty20 and one-day matches.
But in the longer form of the game you need a completely different level of concentration. You need to be patient at the crease and in the field; you need to accept sometimes it will take you three hours to make 10 runs.
His first class average is only 36, which for a player of his undoubted talent is low, and a reflection of how much he has focused on Twenty20, but he has been picked against Bangladesh before many expected it because of his outstanding natural ability, and the selectors are right to use these two Tests to experiment.
England will want to get a very important few months off to a strong start. Everyone will expect them to win and I’m sure they will.
