The then captain Alastair Cook was sacked, not long after being endorsed by ECB managing director Paul Downton, and only weeks ahead of the World Cup. When England flopped at the tournament, the reins passed temporarily to Paul Farbrace, and Morgan set about instilling a no-fear approach in a team of his choice. England began by scoring 408 against New Zealand at Edgbaston.

As England prepares for its Sri Lankan rematch, it sits on top of the world rankings, perhaps pinching itself at the scale of the transformation. “It’s just a completely different team,” said Morgan. “We’re not chasing the pack any more in terms of our style and mentality. We’re probably at the forefront of that.”

Kumar Sangakkara scored 454 runs across the seven matches, while England’s Alex Hales didn’t play until the third game, when it was 0-2 down. “We couldn’t get Sangakkara out,” said Morgan. “Those seven-match ODI tours can be tough. I’ve been involved in a couple, against India and Australia, where we’ve lost 1-6. When you’re on the other side of that, it’s not fun.”

A repeat this time would be a big surprise. Sri Lanka has plummeted to eighth in the rankings, below Bangladesh. To add intrigue to the plot, SL has dropped Angelo Mathews, only days after he was sacked as white-ball captain.

Even so, as Morgan’s team prepares to add another string to its bow ahead of next summer’s World Cup, he is aware that Sri Lanka has never been pushovers at home. Victory this time will cement the notion that it is now a team for all conditions.

“It’s a massive challenge to turn round our record there,” remarked Morgan. “But one change from the last time is that they’re missing Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara. It was difficult to get those guys out in their own conditions.”

“The honest answer is you can’t keep everyone happy,” added Morgan. “When I first took over as captain, I talked to everyone about the importance of building a squad. It’s not just about the 11 players on the park. We’ve had to make some very difficult decisions, especially about the batting order. We’ve not always got it right. It will continue to evolve because we’re building a squad for the World Cup. If a guy is in form going into it, he plays,” explained Morgan.

One of Morgan’s tasks is to use each series as a means of keeping eyes on the main prize — but without letting his players get ahead of themselves. And his belief that the team keeps improving was, he said, confirmed by the way it tackled India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav this summer. Kuldeep ran through England’s batting in the first Twenty20 match and the first ODI. But England neutralised him so well that it ended up winning the 50-over series — India’s first One-Day defeat under Virat Kohli. “We’ve spoken about how it’s important to play in games that expose weaknesses under pressure,” said Morgan. “The biggest test came in the first game against India, when we got done all ends up by a left-arm chinaman bowler we hadn’t played before. But the way we improved against him was a good sign of where we are at.”