Eoin Morgan says a senior player such as Joe Root or Ben Stokes or head coach Matthew Mott should have “come forward” and faced the media before the World Cup game against Holland; assistant coach Carl Hopkinson was on media duty after confirming the team’s elimination

Former England captain Eoin Morgan said the senior players and head coach Matthew Mott “absolved themselves” by not facing the media ahead of the Cricket World Cup match against the Netherlands.

After a sixth loss in seven matches – a 33-run loss to Australia in Ahmedabad on Saturday – confirmed the defending champions’ exit, England brought assistant coach Carl Hopkinson to the press on Tuesday.

The decision was condemned by 2019 World Cup winner Morgan ahead of Wednesday’s match with the Dutch. Sky Sports the scholar says that key people in the lineup needed to be “out front” amid the “sinking ship.”

Morgan said: “I was surprised and shocked by it [seeing Hopkinson put up for media duties].

“When you’re sitting in a meeting as a captain or a head coach, you make those decisions on the sidelines and when things don’t go well, you need absolute clarity and direction.

“When you talk about messaging in an interview, you naturally go to the older players or your head coach.”

“It’s a sinking ship – you need people to take responsibility”

“In certain cases, you might look at it and say, are they avoiding responsibility?” It’s a sinking ship right now and you need people to take responsibility for their actions,” Morgan continued.

“I was surprised that Hopkinson came out.

“If it was Ben Stokes, Joe Root, an older voice in the dressing room, you’d say ‘right, this is how the news will work’.

“Very rarely would you send an assistant coach to give a strong message when the team needs it.”

All-rounder Moeen Ali gave a candid interview to Sky Sports after the loss to Australia and said “the clarity wasn’t quite the same” when asked why England had endured such a terrible tournament.

Morgan added: “I enjoyed Moeen’s interview.

“In a really strong team like England in that dressing room, you have to identify the problem.

“Moeen has clearly identified a few things that probably need to be addressed sooner rather than later, so a frank conversation is a good sign.

“Good players are problem solvers. They spend their entire careers working on their game and trying to take advantage of the opportunity.”