Downton is bound to support Moores, but ultimately any decision is likely to be taken out of his hands. Colin Graves, the chairman elect of the England and Wales Cricket Board, does not take up his position until May 12, but he is already working closely with Tom Harrison, the new chief executive, and making changes to the executive team at Lord’s.
It is unlikely that Giles Clarke, the outgoing chairman, who oversaw Downton’s appointment last year, would overrule Graves and Harrison if they decided they needed to act now with an Ashes series looming. They do not have much time. England fly to the West Indies on April 1 for a three-Test tour, but during his time as Yorkshire chairman, Graves was willing to take drastic action when results on the field were poor.
Moores pleaded for patience. “I want to carry on desperately,” he said. “People are going to be very upset, as we are very upset. We’ve got a lot of passionate fans out there and they are desperate for us to do well, so that makes you feel terrible as a person. Every day as a coach you think of things you could have done and if you got it right. That’s normal.
Eoin Morgan leads his defeated team from the pitch after the presentations
“At a time like now you feel hollow inside and hugely disappointed. So you’re not going to do a lot of thinking other than the disappointment for a campaign where you had huge ambition to come in and do well for the country. We haven’t done that. Any analysis I’ll do later, not today. There are certainly areas for us to look at as a group, as an organisation and as players. There will be a million and one things people will say. What has happened has happened.”
Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire first-team coach and favourite to succeed Moores, ruled himself out of the running. “It’s nice to be thought of but I’ll tell you right now: I’m committed to Yorkshire and looking forward to the county season,” he said.
England have refused to admit that they have been left behind by other countries but Moores finally conceded the problems in this form of the game ran deeper than the current set of players. “I’m not going to stand here and say we all shouldn’t take some responsibility – of course we should. There are some deeper-seated things that go with our one-day cricket that have been talked about a lot.
Peter Moores speaks to Eoin Morgan - both men are under pressure (GETTY IMAGES)
“We can see by how many ODI games our guys play compared to other places in the world, and the exposure they get to bigger tournaments, that we’re behind and we’ve got to catch that up. We have to look at how our one-day cricket is across the board, but it’s not something to do now. That’s for the future.”
Eoin Morgan did not commit himself to remaining as one-day captain other than to say he had enjoyed doing the job, a hollow sentiment given the results.
There will be sympathy for Morgan, who inherited the post far too late to make a difference with a squad he had no say in selecting, and his biggest problem remains his own batting. With another duck here he faces a fight to remain in the team, let alone as captain. “I haven’t thought a great deal about it [captaincy] because this has come as a great surprise. I’ve enjoyed the captaincy,” he said.
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