Morgan hopes to play for Middlesex in the four-day game this season

Eoin Morgan has offered a blunt assessment of the declining status of red-ball cricket, saying youngsters no longer aspire to play in Test matches or care about the County Championship.

Morgan, the England captain in limited-overs formats, hopes to play for Middlesex in the four-day game this season for the first time in three years.

However, speaking in anticipation of the new county season, Morgan said that he was part of the last generation of cricketers for whom the longer form of the game in England was still important.

“I am not sure the championship matters to everyone any more,” Morgan said. “I am a bit unique in wanting to return to play in it — I would say I am the last generation of