South Africa v England - ‘We don’t know our best XI yet’ admits Eoin Morgan

The England captain sends his side into the three-match series in South Africa, starting in Cape Town today, unsure of his best starting XI in the 20-over format.

“The honest answer is we don’t know our best XI yet,” said Morgan. “There are probably seven or eight guys who are pretty strong candidates to be in our playing XI, but the strength of the squad that we’ve selected, and the reserves that we have here, has made our full-strength side available for selection for the first time in a long time. That makes it very exciting.

“Winning at the moment would be great, but, given the luxury of players that we have at our disposal, it’s more important that we get their roles right and they feel comfortable within that.

“If we manage to solve that problem, the results will look after themselves.”

England’s strength is perhaps best highlighted by the fact that Yorkshire’s Joe Root is not even in their 15-man squad.

There is a superfluity of batting options in particular, with Morgan admitting that the most pressing challenge one year out from the T20 World Cup is to identify England’s “best six or seven batsmen”.

What positions they should fill is also a dilemma.

Jos Buttler is set to open alongside Jason Roy in Cape Town, despite plenty feeling that Buttler is best suited to a “finisher” role down the order.

Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes are other opening contenders, the latter having struck a century when opening the batting in the recent Indian Premier League.

“Jos is one of our greatest-ever white-ball cricketers,” said Morgan. “He probably is the best, but he’s still only halfway through his career.

“We have a group of players that are both very good at batting in the top-three and who also want to bat in the top-three.

“We need a really strong top-seven all-round to be able to win or compete at a World Cup.”

England’s bowling is perhaps less of a headache.

It will be spearheaded at Newlands by pace man Jofra Archer, who has made only four T20 international appearances and who Morgan admitted will need careful handling in the next 12 months.

With 10 Tests against India and an Ashes tour on the horizon, along with a variety of “lesser” fixtures, Archer will be a player in demand.

Morgan conceded that he does not expect to have him available all the time in the build-up to the World Cup.

“Jofra is one of the best in the world, so he’s incredible to have around,” said Morgan.

“But I don’t think we’ll have him that often between now and the World Cup.

“The challenge of him trying to commit to all of the Tests and all of the T20s… I think that’s too much.

“So we’re just trying to get him into a headspace where he’s enjoying his cricket while he’s with us, and trying to make the most of the opportunity while he’s with us.”

Although England played behind closed doors during the summer just gone, this will be South Africa’s first international cricket since March.

They have had a chaotic build-up to the series owing to various problems behind the scenes, including alleged serious misconduct by South African board officials concerning mismanagement of funds.

Two unnamed players have tested positive for coronavirus, while South Africa’s decision not to take the knee has gone down like a lead balloon in some quarters, not least because of that country’s appalling record with apartheid.

South Africa say that they will make an anti-racism statement of some sorts prior to the game.

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