Morgan 'a top flight player' - Moores

Peter Moores, England's head coach, has backed Eoin Morgan to arrest his slump in form, describing him as a "top-flight one-day player" and suggesting that stepping up to take temporary charge of the team could help provide the spark he needs.

Morgan will take over the ODI captaincy at a time when his place is as insecure as it has ever been, after Alastair Cook was suspended for one match due to slow over rates. Morgan had developed a reputation over several years as one of England's best limited-overs batsman, a singular talent who was also a reliable match-winner, but has now gone 15 innings without a one-day half-century.

After beginning the tour of Sri Lanka with two contrasting defeats, England showed plenty of character in winning the third ODI by five wickets. Morgan was dropped down the order to No. 6 in Hambantota but managed only a single as England fell to a perilous 152 for 5 chasing 236 to win. Happily for Morgan, Cook and Moores, Joe Root and Jos Buttler fashioned a flinty, unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket to secure victory and send the team back to Colombo with renewed confidence.

But England's tardy display in the field means that Cook will take an enforced break and Moores confirmed that Morgan, the regular deputy in limited-overs cricket, would take charge despite the careworn state of his game.

"He will be frustrated and very disappointed that he hasn't yet managed to impact on the series," Moores said. "He's a really top-flight one-day player, a real key for us.

"It will be interesting next game, as captain. Maybe that is a nice catalyst for him. He's getting fully stuck in, and working at it. With four games to go, if he catches fire, he might end up top runscorer. The captaincy may be a healthy distraction."

Since Moores took over for a second time in April, England have won only five of 13 completed ODIs, a run which coincides with Morgan's thin returns. His dismissal on Wednesday prompted Kevin Pietersen to tweet, possibly not entirely objectively: "Morgan is a free spirit...with a #woodpecker as a coach, I'm afraid it will hurt his spirit! We seeing it! Jeez, I feel for him!"

Rather than external input, Moores suggested it was down to Morgan, whose ODI career spans 126 matches for England and Ireland, to work out the best way of rediscovering his former élan.

"He's a good player, crikey," Moores said. "He'll have been through periods when he's not quite hitting it. But he's the sort of player we're very excited about. The key is to believe in yourself, and go out and play - and Eoin will do that, I'm sure."

Morgan's difficulties have come at a time when Cook is also under severe scrutiny. Cook has made scores of 10, 22 and 34 in Sri Lanka and, although there were glimpses of fluency in his most recent innings, a suspension is unlikely to aid his cause. Should Morgan return to his old self - and potentially lead England to parity in the seven-match series - the pressure on Cook will continue to bubble under but Moores said categorically that he had not considered changing horses, with the World Cup fast approaching.

"It's a shame for Alastair," Moores said. "It is frustrating for him, and for us. I thought he played beautifully last night; he timed the ball really well.

"One thing is that it cleans the slate for him, before we go to a World Cup - because he had that ban hanging over him, if we were slow one more time. So it's a bit like bookings in football. Once you've actually been banned, you go back to zero."

England arrived in Sri Lanka looking to oil the gears in a format where they perennially appear rusty. The Hambantota win was only their second in nine matches but they could take encouragement from the contributions of several of the less-experienced members of the squad: Root and Buttler, as well as Moeen Ali, who struck another breezy fifty, and England's best bowler, Chris Woakes.

The senior batsmen, in particular, have lagged behind and Ian Bell felt the hand on the shoulder, replaced by Alex Hales at No. 3. Bell's form, while indifferent, has been better than that of Cook and Morgan and he could yet come back into the XI in Colombo, either as an opener or at first drop, allowing Hales to partner Moeen. James Tredwell, meanwhile, is almost certain to return, having been England's most economical bowler in the two previous matches at the Premadasa. Whatever England choose to do, they finally appear to have some traction.

"Sometimes, the morning after is the time you really feel wins and losses," he said. "So it's great to know we're back in the series. On the coach going back, to hear players laughing and enjoying the win was fantastic - because belief is one of the key ingredients, and winning always gives you some of that.

"It was a tough decision leaving out Ian Bell and James Tredwell, experienced players, but we know what we've got with those players. We're trying to find out what else we've got. Then the decision-making becomes clearer, and it's simpler to see what our best team is."