Strauss lauds magnificent Morgan

Eoin Morgan's match-winning century against Australia left his captain Andrew Strauss lauding one of the best innings he has ever seen from an England player.

Morgan's 85-ball hundred was laced with 16 boundaries and carried England from an unpromising 97 for four at one stage to a four-wicket victory with four overs to spare, in pursuit of 267 for seven at the Rose Bowl. England are therefore 1-0 up with four to play in the NatWest Series and Strauss had to agree that, if Morgan is still at the wicket, nothing appears impossible.

"It certainly seems that way at the moment," he said. "The great thing about Morgy is he's turning into a really good finisher, but he does it in an aggressive manner. That puts the opposition captains under some real pressure, and he's doing it consistently."

He added: "It was an outstanding innings and certainly one of the very best I've seen in an England shirt."

Strauss also singled out Dublin-born Morgan, an integral part of a new-look one-day international team, as the "Michael Bevan-type" player England have long been searching for.

Invited to compare Morgan with the famed former Australia finisher, Strauss said: "We've been looking for a Michael Bevan-type character for quite a long time.

"Morgs has shown a few times now, in both 50-over and 20-over cricket, that he can play in a similar fashion - and probably even a little bit more aggressively than Bevan.

"He played some outrageous shots, and the great thing is he can score round the wicket against all sorts of bowling.

"As an opposition captain, you are scratching your head to think 'How can we tie him down?'

"That's proving difficult at the moment."