Morgan skippered England to Cricket World Cup glory in stunning fashion and is understood to have visited St George's Park as preparations continue for the trip to the Czech Republic and Monday's qualifier in Bulgaria.

This is not the first time the pair have worked together. Southgate, a big cricket fan, gave a talk to Morgan's team in May ahead of the Cricket World Cup.

"We did the session with Gareth, who was brilliant, every one of our players enjoyed it," Morgan said at the time.

"He got up and talked about his journey with the team in and around the World Cup, but in the build-up as well – how they built bigger expectations and became more together as a group.

"Everyone in the room recognised they are where we were two years ago. We started where they did: recognise what happened in the past, draw a line under it."

Meanwhile, England's record wicket-taker James Anderson will be helped in his bid to overcome his recent calf troubles by Premier League champions Manchester City.

The injury restricted Anderson to only four overs on the opening morning of the Ashes and, as a consequence, he missed the remainder of the series, leading to speculation over the 37-year-old's international future.

Anderson, though, will train at City's Etihad Campus over the next two months, using their world-class facilities alongside England's strength and conditioning team, in an effort to be fit for this winter's tour to South Africa.

Anderson has already been ruled out of the forthcoming trip to New Zealand but is hoping to be available for the four-Test series against the Proteas, which gets underway on Boxing Day, an England and Wales Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed to PA.