England skipper Morgan has 'no regrets' over World Cup

SYDNEY: England captain Eoin Morgan said he had no regrets after his side failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup and insisted he wanted to remain in charge.

Friday´s nine-wicket win over Afghanistan in a rain-marred match at the Sydney Cricket Ground came too late to get England into the knockout phase, with Monday´s 15-run defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide ending their last-eight hopes.

"There are no regrets," Morgan said. "Absolutely not. We´ve given it everything and certainly I have," added the former Ireland batsman, whose last 11 ODI innings have yielded five ducks.

Morgan, only appointed to the one-day captaincy on a full-time basis shortly before the tournament after England axed Test skipper Alastair Cook from their World Cup squad, said he wanted to continue as the team´s 50-over leader.

"The hunger´s still there to captain," said Morgan. "My experience as captain has made me a better player and better person. I´ve learnt a lot about the team and my own performance," he added.

"There will be a review from here so, with regards the captaincy, the decision is out of my hands."

As for the quality of his squad, Morgan said: "The personnel we have are the right personnel. I´ve no regrets, we´ve given it everything."

"We considered everybody when selecting the squad. I still believe we had the right group of players here," the 28-year-old added.

England coach Peter Moores has come under fire for his role in the team´s latest World Cup debacle but Morgan said the players were the ones to blame.
"It´s not fair," said Morgan. "All the responsibility should fall on the players, particularly when we have performed so badly."

Friday´s victory in a ´meaningless´ match meant England finished the tournament having failed to defeat a Test nation, with their only other win coming against Scotland.

"When we´ve been poor, we´ve been really poor," admitted Morgan, with England having suffered thumping Pool A defeats by Australia (111 runs), New Zealand (eight wickets) and Sri Lanka (nine wickets).

"We need to find a way of scrapping to stay in the game." (AFP)