Thursday 19 February 2015 09:19, UK
England captain Eoin Morgan admits he is at a loss to explain his woeful batting form.
Morgan has been dismissed for a duck in four of his last five one-day internationals, including against Australia in England’s World Cup opener.
Australia crushed England by 111 runs in Melbourne, and Morgan’s men are up against the other tournament hosts, New Zealand, in Wellington on Friday.
Morgan was asked about his form at his pre-match press conference, and he admitted: "I'd love you to explain it to me because I don't understand it.
"Personally I try and keep it as simple as possible. You don't look any further than what's in front of you and I've done that and it hasn't worked.
"But I believe it will work and when it does hopefully I can cash in on it and hopefully make it either a match-winning performance or build on somebody else's performance."
Morgan said the team’s senior players must take the lead when they take on the Kiwis, who have won their first two games.
England have only ever won one ODI in the New Zealand capital - way back in 1984 - and Morgan suggested he and the other senior players would need to lead the way at the Westpac.
He picked out the two senior fast bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, plus opener Ian Bell and himself as the men who most need to inspire the younger members of the squad.
"Our senior players will need to stand up," he said.
"We didn't do it at the MCG which was disappointing. Guys like myself, Jimmy, Broady, Belly need to make contributions in order to make the young guys feel quite comfortable within themselves.
"Playing together as a unit is huge for us. It's an area where we've struggled in recent times. We've had guys who have put in good individual performances but guys haven't built on that and that has been disappointing.
"It's a focus of our's. Everyone is aware of it and we're trying to improve on it.”
Morgan was asked to discuss the decision to promote Jos Buttler to the vice-captaincy.
Buttler was handed the position when Morgan took over as one-day skipper from Alastair Cook two months ago but the move has largely gone under the radar.
"In making Jos the vice-captain I thought it was quite an easy decision given that when I've captained in the past he's been someone that I've gone to get immediate input on the game," said Morgan, who denied he had needed to explain the decision to Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad or Joe Root, who has been touted as a future skipper.
"No, I think guys were quite happy about it. They were fine."
Morgan was, at least, able to enjoy one light-hearted moment in his press conference after the Wellington mayor, Celia Wade-Brown, referred to him as "Eoin Rogers" during an official Maori welcome at Wellington harbour on Tuesday night.
"I've been called a lot worse," he said. "She got the hardest part right as well.”
Watch New Zealand v England live on Friday at 1am on Sky Sports World Cup
