Morgan find positives in Jordan, Stokes, Rankin

England

Cricket365
September 17, 2013

Skipper Eoin Morgan delighted in the success of seamers Ben Stokes, Boyd Rankin and Chris Jordan, despite Monday's 49-run loss – and two-one series defeat – to Australia in the fifth and final ODI at the Rose Bowl.

The hosts fielded and weakened team throughout the five-match affair, with Stokes, Rankin and Jordan performing well in the absence of the rested James Anderson and Stuart Broad and belatedly injured Steven Finn.

New-ball bowler Jordan clinched three key breakthroughs on debut in Southampton and all-rounder Stokes clinched a maiden ODI five-for. The lanky Rankin, meanwhile, genuinely tested centurion Shane Watson with some steep bounce.

"The biggest positive is that we've got to see a lot of young cricketers come through, and we've got to learn about them more than anything. We've seen them perform at this level, which is great, against a strong Australian side," said Morgan, who was named stand-in captain amid regular skipper Alastair Cook's rest.

"Here, Jordan looked really threatening up front. He bowled a heavy ball, and came back at the end and bowled well. He, along with Stokes, has impressed – and Rankin similar. It's very difficult to ease Stuart and Anderson out of a team.

"But it's very important we have this depth throughout our squad, especially coming into an Ashes series and then the one-dayers after it. Anything could happen – you could have a couple of guys go down, and potentially a couple of these guys coming in and replacing them. This series was about educating them and having a look at them. So it's a huge positive."

Watson's 143, which spanned a mere 107 deliveries and featured a dozen boundaries and a sextet of sixes, earned the Man of the Match award. Clarke, for 202 runs in three innings, including a fine century in the first ODI, was named Player of the Series.

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