Cricket: Morgan fronts up to scrutiny

England captain Eoin Morgan is enduring the pressure of his forebears.

The 28-year-old fronted media at the Basin Reserve this afternoon as his side prepares for their World Cup pool match with New Zealand on Friday.

England suffered a 111-run defeat to Australia in their opening match on the back of three further consecutive losses to them in the preceding tri-series.

Morgan's form has also been subject to scrutiny. His last four innings of 0, 0, 2, 0 have a greater resemblance to the international dialing code for Egypt than the premier limit overs batsman who has signed a new Indian Premier League contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad for $320,000.

How is Morgan faring after replacing Alastair Cook as England ODI captain in December?

"There's always that level of expectation to win games of cricket," he said. "I've had a few low scores... but I'm continuing to keep things simple going forward. I believe it will enable me to cash in with a match-winning performance or helping someone else to do the same."

Morgan said he hadn't changed his mindset from that which brought him an innings of 121 in his first match as the official ODI captain against Australia in Sydney last month.

However, in 22 ODI innings over the last year he has passed 50 one other time and managed 401 runs at 18.22 with a strike rate of 73. He has passed five three times in 12 ODI innings.

Morgan has taken responsibility for his glut of runs, saying himself and other senior players like James Anderson, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad must offer more consistency.

"We didn't do that at the MCG but our contributions are important to make the younger guys feel comfortable.

"[Recently] we've had good individual performances but guys haven't built around them.

"There is a sense of frustration, but these big games we play [like against New Zealand] are great practice for the latter stages [of the World Cup]. Wins against good opposition breed confidence for later in the tournament."