EOIN MORGAN believes England must adapt and improve on spinning pitches if they are to successfully defend their World Cup title in India, and hopes that work can begin in earnest during the one-day series against Australia.

Captain Morgan is anticipating a gentle turner at Old Trafford, where the rivals will play three ODIs in the next six days, with the weather conditions and wicket likely to favour slow bowlers.

In the recent past that would have been cause for frustration, with England’s rise to number one in the ICC rankings built around posting big totals on good batting tracks and their tournament triumph last summer driven by their pace attack.

But with the next edition due to be held in India in three years, as well a T20 World Cup there next autumn, Morgan is embracing the need for change.

“It’s a huge benefit to us playing at Old Trafford, particularly if we play on the wicket I think we’re going to play on which will hopefully be slow and take a lot of turn,” he said as he celebrated his 34th birthday in the confines of the bio-secure bubble.

“It’s been overcast and that makes it tacky. That’s the sort of wicket we will be more than likely to play on in India in the World Cup of 2023 and to play on that for a period of time will expose us in different areas we need to get better at.

“Over the course of the last four-and-a-half years we have had to wait to play at Cardiff or Old Trafford or go away on tour to experience those conditions. So hopefully a little more of that will help us get better at what we need to do on those sort of pitches.

“I think going away from what we are strong at will do us good for a period of time. It allows us to focus on things that are our weaknesses as a side, so it creates a new dynamic.”