Eoin Morgan: England white-ball captain retires from international cricket

Eoin Morgan says the end of his England career "hit him" during the series against the Netherlands earlier this month, as the World Cup-winning captain confirmed his international retirement.

Under Morgan, England won the World Cup in 2019 and reached the top of the one-day and Twenty20 rankings.

In the Netherlands, he made two ducks before missing the final one-day international with a groin injury.

"The day it hit me was quite a sad day," the 35-year-old said.

"I've engaged with a lot of ex-players as to how they've stopped, and when and how the transition worked, and each person said there is a time and place where it hits you," added Morgan.

"And the other common answer was you'll wake up and you'll know. That moment came for me in Amsterdam.

"Since then I've been incredibly proud and content with the decision and excited for English cricket going forward."

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Jos Buttler, who has led England in nine ODIs and five T20s when Morgan has been absent through injury, is expected to take on the role, with an announcement set for later in the week.

England face India in a three-match T20 series starting on 7 July, and the T20 World Cup in Australia begins in October.

Morgan took charge of the T20 side in 2012 and one-day side in 2014 and was also part of the 2010 T20 World Cup-winning side.

He is England's leading run-scorer in one-day and T20 cricket with 6,957 and 2,458 runs respectively.

Morgan's tally of 225 ODIs and 115 T20s is also an England record, but his two ducks against the Netherlands came at the end of a run of one half-century in 26 white-ball innings.

He added: "To call time on what has been without doubt the most enjoyable and rewarding chapter of my career hasn't been an easy decision, but I believe now is the right time to do so, both for me, personally, and for both England white-ball sides I have led to this point.

"It is a culmination of a lot of things that over the course of the international career, which has been a long time, I've just come to the end.

"I'm glad I was in a sound enough space to understand that feeling and be well aware of what it meant and what it means both for the England white-ball sides and myself in my personal life."

Morgan said he would "continue to enjoy playing at a domestic level while I can" and still plans to captain London Spirit in the second season of The Hundred in August.

Asked about a possible involvement in the England coaching set-up, he added: "At the moment the best thing for the set-up is for me to come out of it and let a new captain find his feet and build a relationship with the new coach and ultimately drive towards the next World Cups.

"I have certainly not ruled out coaching."

After overseeing England's miserable 2015 World Cup campaign when they were knocked out in the group stages, Morgan implemented a new, attacking approach which helped his side break the record for the highest one-day total three times.

Rob Key, managing director of England men's cricket, said: "It will be wrong to think Eoin's legacy was just winning the World Cup in 2019 - it is far greater than that.

"As with all great players and leaders, he has changed the way the game has been played, and he has changed the way an entire generation and generations to come will play this form of the game. His legacy within the game will be felt for many years to come.

"He is, without question, the best leader I have seen."

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