No England blacklist for Eoin Morgan, says Andrew Strauss

England Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss denied reports that the decision by England ODI skipper Eoin Morgan and opener Alex Hales to withdraw from the upcoming tour of Bangladesh will have repercussions with the 39-year-old stating that he expects Morgan to return as skipper of the England ODI side for the tour to India that follows the bilateral series against Bangladesh.

Opinions have been divided on the issue after Morgan and Hales felt it unsafe to go ahead with the tour despite the security delegation of the ECB giving the go-ahead for the tour which had been under threat following a terror attack at an upscale restaurant in Dhaka in July. While former England players like Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones criticised Morgan for backing out, Kevin Pietersen lauded the 30-year-old for taking a “courageous” decision.

While it was reported that Strauss himself was putting the pressure on England’s first choice players to go ahead with the tour, he has now stated his agreement with national selector James Whitaker who had stated that he expects Morgan to return to the ODI side as skipper for the series against India.

“Right from the start we said there are not going to be any recriminations,” Strauss told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme. “It's not like these guys are going to be blacklisted and their names will not be put forward for selection. They absolutely will be. Both have done outstanding jobs for England over the last 12 months, especially Eoin Morgan whose captaining has been sensational.”

Strauss, however, stated that the players in question could face a threat to their spot should any of their replacements end up scoring so much that the selectors are forced to pick them for the tour to India.

"Of course, we can't give any guarantees because the situation might change on the ground in Bangladesh. Someone might come in and do unbelievably well, but the intention is for Eoin to come back in as captain and Alex will be in the mix for selection as well," he said.

Strauss sympathised with the duo for the decision taken and said that he fully understands the reasons behind making such a brave call.

“They were both very mature in the way they went about this," Strauss said. “They took everything in and didn't rush into a decision, but ultimately it came down to them not feeling comfortable about going to Bangladesh. I would have loved us to be in a situation where the whole team made a combined decision to say 'let's go together.

"We didn't get to that situation and that's a shame. But at the same time, every human being is different and sees the world differently. They made their decision for what they see as the right reasons and we'll go on without them."