Eoin Morgan hopes World Cup epic leaves legacy for English cricket

Cricket's grandest of occasions received a grandstand finale, and one that was potentially watched by a whole new audience in the UK, after the decision to show the match on Channel 4 in a one-off capacity, the first men's international to be screened on terrestrial TV since the 2005 Ashes.

And England's captain Eoin Morgan, whose team has been acutely aware of the need for English cricket to boost its participation levels, said that he hoped that the final of the match would have attracted a fair few new converts to the sport, even on a day when cricket was competing both with a gripping men's tennis final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at Wimbledon, and Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Silverstone Grand Prix.

It potentially helped Channel 4's viewing figures that the Super Over came only minutes after the completion of Djokovic's victory.

"I hope so," Morgan said. "Particularly given the time it finished. Obviously today is a big day of sport with Wimbledon and Silverstone GP going on, but with Sunday evening, people normally settle in for a bit of David Attenborough or some random film that's on, so I hope they were tuned into the cricket.

"I certainly hope participation levels go up or continue to rise," he added. "I think the nature in which the game was played today was absolutely outstanding. I commend the Black Caps and Kane [Williamson], they have been incredible, a hugely admirable team, spirit, the way they play, the fight they show and the fact they have done it for an extremely long time.

"We're only newcomers to this and we want to be as consistent as them come the next World Cup, with aspirations like that. But to get over the line reaffirms everything that we have done over the last four years and justifies it as well."

As to Morgan himself, he will be 37 come the 2023 World Cup in India, and though he said that he would take time to enjoy the feeling of being a World Cup winner, he was coy about his own future as England captain.

"We will let the dust settle," he said. "We'll celebrate as hard as we can. I think it's deserved. And then we will look at things. Four years is a long time away. I think the big question I will have to answer is will I be in the team in four years, will I be good enough? These guys are improving very quickly. Will I be able to keep up with them?"

For now, though, Morgan has etched himself a place in English sporting history, emulating Bobby Moore in 1966 and Martin Johnson in 2003 as the three England captains to have won the World Cup in one of the country's major sports.

Asked if he was aware of how this achievement might change his life, Morgan said: "I'm not sure it has. I hope it hasn't changed that much. I enjoy my life. I lead quite a quiet one, so I hope it hasn't changed too much. I would love it to change for everybody else who wants it to change, but I enjoy my life."