Bristol - England will have to find a new captain for the fourth one-day
international against Pakistan on Friday after skipper Eoin Morgan was
banned from the match by the International Cricket Council for a slow
over-rate offence.
Morgan was sanctioned after World Cup hosts and favourites England
took around four hours to bowl their 50 overs in a six-wicket win over
Pakistan in the third ODI at Bristol on Tuesday.
He was also fined 40 percent of his match fee and his players 20
percent of theirs after match referee Richie Richardson ruled England
were two overs short after time allowances were taken into
consideration.
As Morgan had previously been found guilty of a minor over-rate
offence during the Barbados ODI against the West Indies on February 22,
this latest incident constituted his second minor over-rate offence
within a 12-month period and so led to a one-game ban.
"The suspension means Morgan will miss the fourth ODI against
Pakistan in Nottingham on Friday," said an ICC statement issued on
Wednesday.
England paceman Chris Woakes,
who led the attack with four for 67 from his maximum 10 overs, said
being without Morgan was far from ideal.
"Of course you don't want to lose the captain, particularly in the
form that he's in," said Woakes, speaking before Morgan's ban was
announced.
"It's one of those things, we probably need to be quicker. We can
deal with it, we've obviously got some exceptional players on the
sidelines but losing Morgs would be a huge loss for a game so we don't
want that to happen," he added.
England, who were resting leg-spinner Adil Rashid, opted for just
seven overs of specialist slow bowling in Bristol -- including six from
off-spinner Moeen Ali.
"Obviously Rash (Rashid) the majority of the time will bowl 10 overs as will Mo -- Mo only got through six," said Woakes.
Pakistan's 358 for nine -- a seemingly challenging total that England
overhauled with ease thanks mainly to a brilliant century opening stand
between Jonny Bairstow (128) and Jason Roy (76) -- featured plenty of
boundaries.
"When the ball's disappearing to the fence, sometimes you need to
reassess and take that extra minute to decide what your plan is going to
be and execute it," Woakes added.
"But it's too long, it needs to be shorter than that."
England may well have rested Morgan for at least one game in order to
give vice-captain Jos Buttler more leadership experience ahead of a
World Cup starting later this month.
As it is, star batsman Buttler, rested at Bristol, could now return as captain for Friday's match at Nottingham's Trent Bridge.
Buttler has already captained England in white-ball cricket, while
Test skipper Joe Root is also a mainstay of their one-day team.
Morgan's cumulative punishment will not roll over into the World Cup,
with an ICC spokeswoman telling AFP that all players taking part would
start the tournament with a "clean slate".
Meanwhile Bairstow was officially reprimanded by former West Indies
captain Richardson for smashing his stumps in frustration after he was
bowled, with one demerit point added to his disciplinary record.
England are 2-0 up against Pakistan, with games in Nottingham and
Leeds to come, after rain forced the abandonment of last week's opener
at The Oval.