'You can’t just go and belt the best team in the world and...' - Eoin Morgan slams England for early collapse on Day 3 of second Ashes 2023 Test

Former England skipper Eoin Morgan was disappointed with England’s intent on the morning of the third day in the ongoing second Test of the Ashes 2023 Test against Australia. England, at one point, looked quite comfortable with the score of 278 runs for the loss of four wickets at the end of the second day.

They were responding to the total of 416 runs posted by the Aussies in the first innings. But surprisingly, the middle order and the later batting order of the hosts collapsed drastically. They lost the remaining six wickets just after adding 47 runs in the morning session and got bundled up on the score of 325 runs.

Morgan went on to question England’s ‘all-in or all-out’ approach against one of the excellent pace attacks in the world at the moment.

“It will certainly pose a few questions in the changing room, simply because they're (Australia’s) attack is express pace. It’s accurate. It is the best in the world. You can’t just go and belt the best team in the world’s attack all over the place, it has to be more calculated than that,” said Morgan on Sky Sports at the end of the first session on the third day.

It was excellent bowling and excellent planning from Australia - Eoin Morgan

“I thought Australia had a brilliant morning. They were reacting to everything that England does. At Edgbaston, here. Cummins is under the spotlight being a bowler. Going against the grain doesn’t necessarily suit him but he has been excellent. Again, calculated. Mitchell Starc this morning, bowling fast and hitting the hard length. It was all out of aggression last night with just bumper warfare but to come back this morning, recognize how Ben (Stokes) is going to play, which is a bit more calculated and then it’s just Australia’s plan accordingly. So, a little insight into how England changed their aggression last night. I think even Harry Brook even tamed it down this morning but it was excellent bowling and excellent planning from Australia,” he added later.

Notably, the English side, under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s coaching, is yet to lose any Test series since the duo took over the charge last year.