Eoin Morgan pledges to keep England on attack at World T20

The England squad have arrived in Mumbai

‘We’ve seen in the group we have a lot of talent and a lot of match-winners,’ said Morgan (Getty Images)

England will resist any temptation to curtail their attacking instincts at the World Twenty20. They are adamant they will adhere to the refreshing policy which had seemingly revived their fortunes until five successive limited-overs defeats at the end of the tour of South Africa prompted many observers to suggest another rethink was necessary.

“I’m reasonably confident about things,” said the England captain, Eoin Morgan, after the squad arrived in Mumbai yesterday. “Before the South Africa series we had a really good run of things. We’ve seen in the group we have a lot of talent and a lot of match-winners.

“It didn’t necessarily happen in South Africa and one of the things after that trip that we talked about was, ‘Are we still playing in the right way? Are we being beaten in the right manner, doing the things we said we’d do?’ And I think we are. The attitude in the group is still of a really positive mindset and that’s very important coming into this tournament.”

What marked at least three of the defeats was an apparent reluctance, or, perhaps more worryingly, an inability to change pace if things start going wrong. But Ben Stokes, one of the side’s brightest talents who epitomises the new style, gave it his full support. Designed by Morgan and the coach, Trevor Bayliss, it has extended to the Test team under Alastair Cook and has undoubtedly led to a rejuvenation of the team and probably English cricket at large.

“Trevor and Morgan gave us that freedom and even Cook in Tests,” Stokes said. “It’s obviously worked for us, so why stop doing it? We got a bit of criticism in South Africa for the Twenty20 games we lost but we won six before that.”

Morgan and Stokes were expressing these sentiments on the anniversary of the ignominious defeat by Bangladesh, who dumped England out of the World Cup last year. It was a harsh lesson for Morgan in his first tournament and for the selectors, who did not even pick Stokes, one of their brightest talents.

Morgan said: “It’s been quite a significant factor in the turnaround we’ve had, the different attitudes, the different group of players and, to a certain extent, the results we’ve had – not necessarily just that day against Bangladesh, but as a whole trip. It was a huge learning curve for me, particularly as a captain.”

England, who begin this tournament against West Indies next Wednesday, have a first warm-up match against New Zealand on Saturday.