Eoin Morgan blasts England’s senior players and coach Matthew Mott for ‘shirking responsibility’ by ‘not fronting up’ to the media after their miserable Cricket World Cup exit

• England’s World Cup elimination was confirmed following loss to Australia
• Jos Buttler’s side have produced a disastrous defence of their 2019 title 
• Assistant coach Carl Hopkinson surprisingly faced the media on Tuesday  

Eoin Morgan has criticised the team’s current England leadership for ‘shirking responsibility’ and ‘not fronting up’ amid their disastrous Cricket World Cup campaign in India.

Morgan captained England to glory in the 2019 tournament but their title defence has been dreadful, with just one victory from seven matches seeing them embarrassingly prop up the table.

Eyebrows were raised when fielding coach Carl Hopkinson was put up before the media on the eve of England’s penultimate group match against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

They need to win to stand any chance of finishing in the top eight to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Morgan, working as a pundit on Sky Sports, described England as a ‘sinking ship’ and blasted senior players and coach Matthew Mott for dodging the awkward questions.

Eoin Morgan has criticised senior England players for ‘shirking responsibility’ for not facing the media after their Cricket World Cup elimination was confirmed. Pictured are captain Jos Buttler (right), Joe Root (middle) and Jonny Bairstow (left)

Morgan captained England to their 2019 World Cup win – but their defence has been dreadful

‘I was very surprised and a little bit shocked by it [sending Hopkinson out]. When you bear in mind the thought process that goes behind it, when you sit in meetings as a leader and a captain, or as a head coach, you make those decisions in the side,’ Morgan said.

‘When things are going wrong, you need absolute clarity and direction.

‘For a long time, you talk about people who are media trained and what to expect and what is needed when you talk about messaging in an interview process, so you naturally turn to senior players or your head coach.

‘You have to front up and in certain instances, you can look at it and say “are they shirking responsibility?”

‘At the moment it’s a sinking ship and you need people to take responsibility. Take responsibility for your actions, that is just part and parcel of the job.

‘It very much surprised me seeing Carl Hopkinson being rolled out yesterday. If it was Ben Stokes or Joe Root, a senior voice in the changing room, you would say “right, this is the message in the changing room, this is how it’s going to work”.

‘But you very rarely would send out an assistant coach to give a strong message when the team needs it.’

Fielding coach Carl Hopkinson was sent out to speak to the media ahead of Wednesday’s match against the Netherlands 

Morgan denied rumours he is in line to replace England white-ball coach Matthew Mott

England’s 33-run defeat to Australia in Ahmedabad on Saturday confirmed the reigning champions’ elimination with two matches left to play.

Morgan, 37, last week dismissed rumours he is in line to replace Mott as England’s white-ball coach.

‘It’s a bit far-fetched but everyone is entitled to interpret my comments,’ he told Sky Sports.

‘I am very happy and cemented, hopefully, in what I am going to do in the future [punditry].’

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