Pune, Nov 8 (IANS) Eoin Morgan, England’s 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup winning captain, said senior players and head coach Matthew Mott shirked their responsibility by not facing the media ahead of their match against Netherlands.

With the 33-run defeat to Australia ending their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ongoing tournament, England fielded assistant coach Carl Hopkinson for the customary pre-match press conference on Tuesday, which drew sharp criticism from Morgan.

"I was surprised and shocked by it (seeing Hopkinson put up for media duties). When you sit in a meeting as a captain or a head coach you make those decisions in the side and when things are going wrong, you need absolute clarity and direction."

"When you talk about messaging in an interview process, you naturally turn to senior players or your head coach to front up. It certain instances you could look at it and say, 'are they shirking responsibility?' At the moment, it is a sinking ship and you need people to take responsibility for their actions," said Morgan to Sky Sports ahead of Wednesday’s clash at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

With the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup knockouts out of their grasp, England now need to win against Netherlands and Pakistan to keep their 2025 Champions Trophy qualification alive. 

"You need to take responsibility for your actions and that is just part and parcel of your job. It very much surprised me seeing Carl Hopkinson rolled out yesterday." 

"If it was a Ben Stokes, a Joe Root, a senior voice in the changing room, you would say 'right, this is how the messaging is going to work'. You very rarely would send out an assistant coach to give a strong message when the team needs it," concluded Morgan.