Morgan defends impact of IPL

Eoin Morgan has defended the value of the IPL following Sir Ian Botham's comments earlier this week.

Botham denounced the IPL as "too powerful" while delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's on Wednesday.

After claiming the event "compounded" the game's corruption problems - saying it provides "the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing" - Botham suggested that "it shouldn't be there at all".

But Morgan, England's captain for the T20I against India at Edgbaston, insisted the IPL had helped him develop as a player.

As well as stating that his stints with Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders had provided the opportunity to work alongside other international players, Morgan suggested that the pressure of playing in front of huge crowds on different surfaces had contributed to his improvement as a batsman.

"I thought wonders of my experience of the IPL," Morgan said. "It made me a more skilful player both in Twenty20 and 50-over cricket.

"The experience of watching the very best go about their business is huge, so I'm a massive fan. I spent four seasons playing with Jacques Kallis - and I played one season each with Rahul Dravid, Brendon McCullum and Brett Lee. Those are guys I would never have had an opportunity to play with and learn from solely playing at Middlesex. So I'm very grateful for that. I learnt a lot from those guys."

While Morgan has endured a tough few months in international cricket - he has not made a half-century in his last 12 ODI innings and has managed only 25 runs in his last three T20I innings - he remains one of the best players England have had in limited-overs cricket. Not only is his fourth on the list of all-time best strike-rates for

England in ODI cricket - only Jos Buttler, Samit Patel and Graeme Swann are above him - but he is also eighth in the list of those with the highest average.

"Some of the situations you are thrown into in the IPL give you a different experience of being an overseas player within a very strong side," Morgan said. "It means you take on a different role in a team, more responsibility and more pressure.

"Being thrown-in in those situations, playing in front of huge crowds, is awesome and again a tough experience but one that holds you in good stead down the line."