England skipper Eoin Morgan has emphatically said that there will be “no” mental scars when his side takes on defending champions West Indies in their opening ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ game here late on Saturday.
England were at the receiving end of Carlos Brathwaite’s pyrotechnics in the 2016 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup final, as the Barbados-born West Indian smashed four consecutive sixes off England’s Ben Stokes in the last over that propelled the Caribbean side to the title.
The feat prompted commentator Ian Bishop to demand viewers watching coverage around the world get to know Brathwaite with the line “Carlos Brathwaite, Carlossss Brathwaite…. Remember the name.”
Asked if the “mental scars” from that game still lingered in the minds of the players, Morgan categorically said, “No. The West Indies are a strong team with a lot of experience. They have a lot of guys that have been around for a very long time. We’ve played them a lot over the last three years, both as individuals and in various tournaments around the world, but in an England shirt, as well. It’s been a long time since we’ve played them in a T20 World Cup (2016 final), so we’re looking forward to it.
“I think some of the biggest disappointments in any career are more learnings than scars. I think if there were scars we would have lost a lot of players that wouldn’t have progressed like they have done over the last four or five years throughout their careers, and I think the development of the side has, I suppose, reinforced that any time we’ve come up against a side that has beaten us in whatever fashion they have, we’ve always looked to learn and progress and become a better side,” added Morgan.
On whether, England would take the knee ahead of the clash against the West Indies in support of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, Morgan said, his side will certainly be doing that “to show our support in the fight against racism”, but did not commit to whether England will repeat the gesture before every game here.
“We’ll join the West Indies in taking a knee to show our support in the fight against racism. The second part of it is we’ve always felt that we need something that within our squad and our side that we feel a part of making a change, both locally and nationally and potentially globally. Our moment of unity that we have had at home for quite a period of time has been our piece of, I suppose, cultural development, education, raising awareness within that space, as well, and it’s worked for us, and it’s progressing nicely and guys are engaged and want to do more.
“Unfortunately during this tournament we’re not able to do that. If we could do that every game, we would. But yeah, we’re more than happy to take a knee (before the game against the West Indies),” added Morgan.
