Sri Lanka v England: Eoin Morgan says he is not worried by his side's record defeat
- Published
England captain Eoin Morgan said he was not worried by his side's record 219-run defeat in the fifth one-day international against Sri Lanka.
England were thrashed in Colombo after Morgan chose to rest himself, plus Chris Woakes and Olly Stone with the series victory already secured.
Morgan defended the changes saying they gave other players an opportunity before next year's World Cup.
"It is not a setback at all," Morgan told BBC Sport.
"We have got to learn from every game between now and the World Cup.
"Sri Lanka took advantage of us having a very poor day."
England are favourites for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, having won their last nine series of two matches or more and claiming wins in 41 of their 53 matches since June 2016 before the game in Colombo.
They comfortably clinched the series in Sri Lanka with a game to spare with Morgan the leading scorer across the first four matches.
But Morgan rested himself for the fifth ODI, with Jos Buttler named stand-in captain, to allow bowlers Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett and all-rounder Sam Curran to play their first matches of the tour.
England struggled with the ball with Sri Lanka posting a total of 366 - their highest score against England in ODIs.
England were also poor with the bat, reduced to 4-3 and 28-4 before rain ended the innings on 132-9 in the 27th over, resulting in a 219-run defeat on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method - their biggest in ODI cricket.
"Right from the get-go they played with quite an aggressive approach to the day and I don't think at many stages we reacted to that well," Morgan said.
"The first 50 overs were pretty poor by our standards and we were a long way off where we want to be.
"It was good to give guys an opportunity. We get an insight into how guys react under pressure so when it comes to World Cup selection there are no doubts around that player."
On the decision to rest himself, Morgan said: "One reason was I might get injured in the run-up to the World Cup and Jos might have to captain.
"It is a good experience for him."
- Published23 October 2018