Rob Key has revealed that the appointment of Matthew Mott as England’s white-ball coach in May was made in the knowledge that the team’s captain Eoin Morgan, who “pretty much ran the entire set-up”, could retire at any moment. Morgan duly stepped down last month, with Mott now working alongside his replacement, Jos Buttler.
“One of the reasons I wanted someone with experience was in case Eoin Morgan gave it up,” said Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, who was himself appointed only in April. “When I came in he pretty much ran the entire set-up. He never gave the guarantee of, ‘I will definitely be there for the World Cup’, and that became part of the decision-making process. This team really ran itself with Eoin Morgan. What’s the best way to do it when he’s not there? That’s why Matthew Mott. I wasn’t expecting this, but it was part of the thinking.”
