Ben Stokes hailed Eoin Morgan as a "phenomenal leader" and Jos Buttler also voiced his support amid questions over the England white-ball captain's role in the side.
Stokes has taken the Test captaincy by storm, winning his first two matches against the world Test champions New Zealand, while England have been playing white-ball fixtures in the Netherlands.
England coasted to an eighth straight ODI win on Wednesday, their longest run since a streak between January and May 2017 (also eight), to complete the series sweep over the Netherlands.
Morgan missed that outing in the Amsterdam suburbs due to a groin issue, but the 35-year-old failed to score a run in each of the first two games.
The England white-ball skipper has passed 50 just once in his last eight ODI innings since scoring 106 against Ireland in February 2020, but Stokes was quick to back Morgan.
"Well, he's only had two low scores so I wouldn't say he's going through a hard time at the moment," said Stokes as England prepare for the third Test against New Zealand at Headingley on Thursday.
"I think the press are the only ones giving him a hard time and I think the players have shown it's not an issue with them.
"People are allowed to not score many runs and more than that he's our captain. He's a phenomenal leader and always will be so I've got no issues with anything going on with him at the moment."
Buttler stepped in as captain against the Netherlands in the absence of Morgan, blasting an unbeaten 86 from 64 deliveries as England chased 245 in just 30.1 overs.
The absence of Morgan was labelled as a "precautionary issue" by England and Buttler assured his captain has the backing of the entire team.
"There's certainly no questioning of his position from within the camp," Buttler said. "I can't put into words what he's achieved.
"Everyone always talks about his captaincy but you forget what a brilliant batsman he's been for England in over 200 ODIs – that doesn't just go away overnight. Everyone in the team is backing him."
The destructive white-ball form of Buttler has led to suggestions he could return to the England Test side, with Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum encouraging an aggressive brand of cricket.
Buttler acknowledged he is in the form of his life, but says there has been no contact regarding a return to the red-ball team.
"I'd have to say yes," said Buttler, when asked whether he was in the form of his life. "The IPL was incredibly special personally to have a tournament like that, I surprised myself.
"I think what's important for us in white-ball cricket in England is we talk about playing in a particular fashion and we must try and live that to the max.
"Of course, there's a bit of a risk element to that way of playing but it's what we ask of everyone."
"I haven't had any conversations with anyone about [the Test team]. I'm very happy with where I'm at, at the moment. It might not ever be a question that has to be answered."
Majid Haq shocked by ‘paltry’ fine handed to official who racially abused him
Former Scotland international Majid Haq has described his “shock” at the “paltry” fine handed to the cricket club official who racially abused him.
Ronald McGregor has been fined £400 and ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge at Greenock Sheriff Court after admitting acting in a racially aggravated manner which caused or was intended to cause alarm or distress.
Umpire Haq was called a “cheating Paki” by the 64-year-old scorer during a WDCU Premiership One match between home club Greenock and Stenhousemuir on August 12 this year.
Sheriff Neil Kinnear said he would have imposed a £600 fine but reduced the penalty in recognition of McGregor’s early guilty plea and claimed it would still be a “significant” financial penalty. The sheriff added that he recognised it was a one-off incident and that McGregor, from Greenock, had offered to apologise to Haq.
Writing on his X social media account, Haq said: “Today has been a eye opener for many people. Still in shock Sheriff Neil Kinnear gave racist Ronald McGregor a paltry £420 fine. Shows we have a long way to go in the courts & maybe Sheriffs @Lawscot could do with some diversity training themselves. #joke.”
Haq’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said McGregor’s claim through his lawyer that he wished to apologise was “too little, too late, too convenient”.
Anwar pointed out that McGregor had failed to attend his Cricket Scotland disciplinary hearing and was described after that process as showing “no remorse”. He was banned from attending any cricket matches in Scotland last month.
Sentencing McGregor, a well-known former player, Sheriff Kinnear said: “I note and accept that you have been a lifelong cricket fan and that as a result of this incident that has come to an end and you have lost the ability to attend cricket matches, which was your passion for many years.
“At this cricket match you made a racial slur in relation to the umpire of a type which is completely unacceptable.
“You are no doubt aware of the public outrage that such comments cause.
“Racist comments are not acceptable to society these days and probably never have been.
“They are never acceptable in society so I have to mark this with a significant financial penalty.”
Aidan Gallagher, representing McGregor, told the court the incident was “out of character” for his client, who offered a “sincere apology” for what he said.
He said: “He regrets it wholeheartedly. He fully accepts it was inexcusable and it has had very significant consequences for him.
“He had been involved with Cricket Scotland for many years and that’s now at an end, he will have no further involvement in cricket.”
Previous allegations from Mr Haq and another former international, Qasim Sheikh, led to an independent review which last year concluded the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland were institutionally racist.
Jos Buttler will let England’s white-ball legacy be decided by others
Jos Buttler will leave it to others to define the legacy of this England white-ball generation as they gear up for what could be one final ODI hurrah.
Buttler, plus Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, were integral in turning England from also-rans to the first men’s side to hold both limited-overs World Cups simultaneously.
Eight members from the class of 2019 are in England’s 15-strong squad for the defence of their 50-over crown in India, which starts this week, in what could be an ODI swansong for several in the set-up.
Retaining their crown would put this England side on a pedestal as one of the greatest limited-overs sides ever, but Buttler insisted leaving a long-lasting footprint is not uppermost in their minds.
“I feel like legacy is defined by others,” England’s white-ball captain told the PA news agency. “The guys in the team are all excited just about this World Cup.
“A lot of us have played a lot of cricket together for a long period of time, being part of a really successful side for a long time and we’ve had some really good memories along the way already.
“Now it’s something new in my eyes, it’s a new World Cup, a chance to try and do something else and win a tournament and have a great time doing it.
“I don’t feel like we go out there with any added pressure of trying to cement a legacy, we’re just looking forward to the tournament and what will come of that.”
England played 88 ODIs between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, revolutionising their approach as the format took centre stage on their priority list and culminated in their unforgettable Lord’s triumph.
Since that heady July day four years ago, England have had just 43 ODIs and frequently been without their best players as the Test and T20 teams took precedence.
Joe Root – England’s rock at number three – and Stokes, who has reversed his ODI retirement and will be used as a specialist middle-order batter due to longstanding left knee issues restricting his bowling, have taken part in just 19 and 13 50-over matches respectively since the 2019 World Cup final.
“Four years ago felt very different,” Buttler said. “We’d obviously had a big change of style of play and personnel in the team – all building towards that World Cup for four years.
“There was nothing in the way of that and being a home World Cup, I think there were different pressures of being the favourites which we embraced.
“Whereas going into this World Cup, it’s been a bit different, I think it’s probably fair to say we’re probably not favourites going into this one.”
Buttler, who succeeded Eoin Morgan as England’s limited-overs captain last year, doubts England’s status as holders of both white-ball World Cups puts a target on their backs.
“We’ve been a really good white-ball team for a long time now – teams want to beat you, we want to beat other teams as well,” he said.
“Whether that adds any extra difference to the results, I don’t believe so because we’re just as determined to try and win games of cricket as teams that are trying to beat us.”
England start their campaign against New Zealand at Ahmedabad on Thursday, the first of nine group-stage fixtures in eight cities that will stretch them physically and mentally.
Their decision to swap out Jason Roy, so crucial to their 2019 success, and plump for Harry Brook garnered scrutiny, but was based on the Yorkshireman’s flexibility to bat anywhere in the top six.
Having broken into and established himself in the Test and T20 sides, Brook has been backed by Buttler to make a splash in the ODI team if selected.
“Harry’s ceiling is so high,” Buttler added. “I think we’ve seen it in international cricket in the way he’s taken to Test cricket, especially. We all know the trajectory his career is on.
“He was obviously fantastic in the T20s in Pakistan last year ahead of the T20 World Cup and forced his way into that team and he’s one of the bright young stars of world cricket.”
:: Jos Buttler was speaking to promote Castore, the official kit suppliers of the England cricket team, investing in an extension to its national brand marketing campaign. For more information, visit https://castore.com
Manchester rivals suffer three o'clock woe
Manchester City and Manchester United both lost on Saturday, breaking a decade-old wait for the two rivals to fall to a defeat in a 3pm kick-off.
It is rare for both United and City to play in the traditional Saturday slot, but that was the case as Erik ten Hag's side hosted Crystal Palace and Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions headed to Wolves.
Yet neither team will be in a rush to remember this particular afternoon in a hurry, as they both lost in a 3pm Saturday kick-off for the first time since September 28, 2013.
United lost 1-0, with Joachim Andersen's goal making Roy Hodgson the first manager to go unbeaten in five successive Premier League trips to Old Trafford. City, meanwhile, went down 2-1 at Molineux, with Hwang Hee-chan getting the winner for Wolves.
No Rodri, big problems
City lost to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and, without star midfielder Rodri – who was serving the second of a three-match suspension for the red card he received against Nottingham Forest – they found themselves on the end of a defeat again at Wolves.
Since Rodri made his Premier League debut in August 2019, City have lost five of 15 matches without the Spaniard in the competition (W9 D1); by contrast, they have lost just five of their last 67 league games when Rodri has featured (W53 D9).
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