Not fair to win World Cup like that: Morgan

London, July 20  

England captain Eoin Morgan admitted that he is troubled with the way the 2019 World Cup ended. 

England and New Zealand played out a match that was tied twice —first in regular play and then in the Super Over — and Morgan’s side won the title on the basis of their superior tally of boundaries in the match. “I don’t think it’s fair to have a result like that when there’s very little between the sides,” Morgan said. “I don’t think there was one moment that you could say: ‘That actually cost the game there.’ It was quite balanced,” he added. 

Morgan is normally known for his clear-headed approach and has been credited with leading a sea change in England’s attitude towards white-ball cricket but even he admitted that he is struggling to make sense of what happened in the final. “I’m black and white. I’m normally going: ‘I know. I was there, that happened.’ But I can’t stick my finger on where the game was won and lost. I’m not sure winning it makes it any easier. It would be more difficult to lose, of course,” he said. 

“There’s no defining moment that you’d say: ‘Yes, we thoroughly deserved it.’ It’s just been crazy.” 

The match ebbed and flowed and there were times when one side looked as likely to win the game as the other. 

‘Speaking to Kane’ 

Morgan said that he has been speaking to Williamson, with whom he has played on a number of occasions in the Indian Premier League, about the game. “I spoke to Kane over the last couple of days on numerous occasions and none of us has come up with a rational explanation as to the various times we gave them the game and they gave it back to us. Like me, he can’t get his head around everything,” he said. 

The 32-year-old, however, agreed that the final was probably the greatest ever cricket match. “By a long way. I can’t think of a game that’s come close. Madness. I should be cheery about it, shouldn’t I?” he said. — IANS

‘MCC likely to review overthrow rules’ 

• The custodians of cricket laws, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is likely to review the overthrow rules in the aftermath of the controversy that rocked the just-concluded World Cup, a newspaper report said. According to a report in The Sunday Times, “There is a feeling at MCC that overthrows are worth looking at when it next reviews the laws of the game, which is the responsibility of the MCC Laws sub-committee.” 

Player under scanner for flouting family clause 

• New Delhi: A senior member of the Indian cricket team has come under the scanner for violating BCCI's 'family clause' rules during the World Cup. The player in question had specifically requested for his wife to stay with him for more than the permissible period of 15 days but it was shot down by the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which had laid down the rules. Now it has come to light that the player’s wife stayed with him for the entire seven-week duration of the tournament without seeking permission from either the captain or the coach for her extended stay. The CoA in its meeting on May 3 discussed the issue but eventually shot down the request. — pti