Eoin Morgan has heaped praise on Ben Stokes and said that the England skipper’s leadership is going to hey for the upcoming Ashes series against Australia, staring from 16th June.
England has enjoyed tremendous success under the leadership of the all-rounder as Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum’s Bazball mantra has caught the imagination of the cricketing world.
In the last 13 Test matches that they have played, England has won 11 with their aggressive and attractive brand of cricket. Stokes will be aiming to bring back the Ashes home this time around and Morgan feels his leadership could be key in the series.
Speaking to the Mirror, the former England batter said that Stokes has always been a leader and as captain, has been going a great job. Morgan said he has sat back and admired how the all-rounder has gone about with his captaincy.
Morgan also said that Stokes and McCullum have identified the strengths of the players and are trying to utilise them in each match.
“Good leadership and captaincy can make a real difference to a team and Stokes’ leadership I think is going to be key for this Ashes,” said Morgan.
“He’s always been a leader and as captain he’s been great. I’ve sat back and admired how he’s gone about it. I learned a huge amount from his coach Brendan McCullum and leadership is shaped by the people that have influenced you. They have recognised what strengths their players have and are trying to utilise them. And they’ve worked.”
“He’s continued to answer questions where you have to defend it and continue to talk about it, and I can certainly relate to that.”
“For the first three years of our transition in white-ball, I kept saying ‘we’re doing this because it works and it will continue to work as long as we get better at it.”
Morgan’s biggest admiration for Stokes comes from the fact that the England captain has taken the responsibility to make the game as attractive as possible.
“Test cricket for me is still unbelievable,” he said. “But it is a really challenging time for it. It has lost Virat Kohli as a Test captain and he always spoke vividly about how much he loved it and was passionate about it.
“Stokes is the same, and he has taken on a huge responsibility to the game to make it as attractive as possible.”
