‘Morgan’s Bangladesh decision is a huge mistake’

Eoin Morgan has made a ‘huge mistake’ by ruling himself out of England’s tour of Bangladesh on security grounds, according to former national captain Michael Vaughan.

Morgan has decided, alongside opening batsman Alex Hales, that he is not prepared to travel to a country where an attack on a Dhaka cafe in July resulted in the loss of 29 lives.

England have therefore confirmed Jos Buttler will instead lead the team in three one-day internationals.

Andrew Strauss, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s director, said in a statement on Sunday night that he ‘respects and understands’ Morgan and Hales’ decision, but is nonetheless ‘disappointed’.

Vaughan, reacting like another fellow former England captain Nasser Hussain in his newspaper column, believes many at the ECB will be angered by Morgan - who, he suggests, will not be able to look his team-mates in the eye after refusing to tour.

Conceding Morgan has had a ‘very hard call’ to make after consulting others’ experienced opinions, Vaughan added in the Daily Telegraph: ‘But once you absorb all that advice there is still one thing you have to remember as an England captain - it is your job to lead in difficult circumstances.

‘One main trait of a strong leader is they never ask a team-mate to do something they would not do themselves.

‘This is why Morgan has made a huge mistake. The players will support him in the press, but there will be a little thought at the back of their minds that he went missing at a difficult time for the side.’

A captain, Vaughan insists, leads by example.

‘You tell [your team] to be strong so they can go the extra yard,’ he said.

‘I do not see how he can look them in the eye and ask them to do that in the future.’

Vaughan and Hussain both wonder too if Morgan has left himself vulnerable when the selectors pick their next squad.

Hales is a certainty to be retained when England play ODIs in India in the new year after his record-breaking innings against Pakistan last month.

Morgan’s future involvement is highly probable too, but Vaughan senses people in high places will not currently be impressed after he decided not to travel, despite England’s confirmation the tour can go ahead on the advice of their security expert Reg Dickason.

Vaughan said: ‘My problem is that Eoin is basically saying, ‘I do not trust the expert’.

‘Reg will feel let down. So will the likes of Andrew Strauss and [ECB chairman] Colin Graves, who have rubberstamped the tour to proceed based on Reg’s advice.

‘Eoin has not trusted them to do their jobs either. How would he feel if they said they do not trust him to make good decisions on the field?

‘It will be very difficult for him to come back from this. They will be angry that he has been stubborn.’

Vaughan believes Hales, meanwhile, can forget about opening in Test matches again.

‘Similarly, Alex Hales has said goodbye to his Test career,’ he added.

‘He has given a fine young player like Haseeb Hameed the opportunity to take his place. I think one day he will regret it.’

Hussain makes many of the same points, in his Daily Mail column.

He said: ‘Eoin Morgan has always been his own man, but an England captain cannot stand by and watch his players do something he is not prepared to do himself.

‘He should be with his team in Bangladesh.’

Hussain defends an individual’s right to decide he does not feel safe.

‘But I do believe it is different for a captain,’ he added.

‘The next time Morgan asks his team to go that extra yard one of them might look at him and think, ‘Hang on, when we put our necks on the line by going to Bangladesh and took ourselves out of our comfort zone, you weren’t with us. Where were you when we were surrounded by tanks and snipers and couldn’t leave our hotel rooms?’ It has to undermine his authority.’

Hussain still thinks the Irishman should return as captain, however.

He added: ‘... this is not a deal-breaker.

‘Morgan is an important cricketer, and I don’t think he should lose the captaincy over this.

‘He has to realise, though, that if someone comes in and plays well, it provides a dilemma for the selectors.

‘It will raise question marks over his right to walk back into the side.’