Can Eoin Morgan handle the bouncer
Duncan Fletcher writes in the Guardian that Eoin Morgan has displayed the right temperament to suggest he has the nous to succeed in whites
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Duncan Fletcher writes in the Guardian that Eoin Morgan has displayed the right temperament to suggest he has the nous to succeed in whites. However, he insists that Morgan must prove also prove that he has the technique - more specifically, that he can handle the bouncer.
I have never believed that good batsmen should be pigeonholed as specialists in one form of the game unable to make it in another. The best players can succeed in any format if they are given a chance to settle. Just look at how Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid have taken to Twenty20, which was supposed to be a young man's game. This is not to say that Morgan will necessarily succeed. The one clear early hurdle he must clear is showing he can play the short ball. That is always a key indication of whether a good one-day batsman can also perform in Test cricket. A player who struggles against bouncers will never do well in Tests.
Michael Bevan was a classic case. In Test cricket a batsman needs to be able to play the short ball effectively. That does not mean he has to attack it but he does need to survive it, typically by ducking underneath. Bevan used to get locked into position, and that always left him vulnerable. If Morgan has any failings against short-pitch bowling they will soon be exposed, maybe not now, but later in the summer.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo