Eoin Morgan
Encyclopedia
Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan (born 10 September 1986) is an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who plays for the England national cricket team. A left-handed batsman, he plays county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...

 for Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...

 and has been selected for England's Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

, ODI and Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...

 squads. He originally represented his native Ireland at international level before switching to play for England. He is the only player in history to score an ODI hundred for two nations and is particularly noted for his end of innings hitting ability, seeing him labelled as a 'finisher'. He is also noted as being a skilful player of the reverse sweep shot, which has been influenced by the Irish game of hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

.

Youth and early career

Morgan was born in Dublin and educated at the Catholic University School
Catholic University School
Catholic University School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys located on the southside of central Dublin, Ireland. It is run by the Marist Fathers.-Origins:...

 on Leeson Street, where he won three senior cup titles for the school. In his early teens Morgan played hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 twice a week and this helped develop his skills as a batsman, particularly as the grip for hurling is the same as for the reverse sweep. During this time he also briefly attended Dulwich College
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...

 to further his cricketing education and it was here that his ambition to play for England began. Morgan represented Ireland's youth teams and was capped at Under-15 and Under-17 level. He was selected in the Irish Under-19 squad
Irish U-19 cricket team
The Ireland Under-19 cricket team represents All-Ireland in Under-19 international cricket.Ireland recently won the 2009 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier which was held in Canada. The team gained victories over the U-19 teams of Hong Kong, Canada, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu, the...

 for the 2004 Under-19 World Cup, and was Ireland's top run-scorer in the competition. Two years later, he captained Ireland in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the second-highest overall run-scorer.

Ireland

Morgan made his One Day International debut for Ireland on 5 August 2006 at the European Championships
European Cricket Championship
The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport and Europe's only Test cricket playing country,...

 against Scotland
Scottish cricket team
The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. They compete in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as the Scottish Saltires...

. He fell one run short of a century, scoring 99 before he was run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...

. It was the first time in ODI history that a player had been dismissed for 99 on debut. Only two other batsmen passed 20 as Ireland beat Scotland by 85 runs. His maiden ODI hundred came not long after, on the 4 February 2007 against Canada
Canadian cricket team
The Canada cricket team is the national cricket team representing Canada in men's international competition. It is run by Cricket Canada.While Canada is not sanctioned to play Test matches, the team does take part in One Day International matches and also in first-class games against other...

 in Nairobi. He became the youngest ever non-subcontinental
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

 player to make a century in ODI cricket.

Morgan is the first cricketer to have scored a first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 double century for Ireland with an unbeaten 209 against the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates cricket team
The United Arab Emirates national cricket team is the team that represents the country of the United Arab Emirates in international cricket matches...

 in February 2007 at Abu Dhabi. In February 2007, Morgan was named in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...

. Although Ireland performed well in the tournament, Morgan struggled personally, scoring just 91 runs from nine innings. In all, Morgan played in 23 ODIs for Ireland, scoring 744 runs at an average of 35.42.

England

Morgan told the Sunday Times that ‘From the age of 13, I wanted to play cricket for England. I’ve never felt any shame in saying this is what I wanted to do. And the people at home involved in cricket, they were like, “Fair play, it’s going to be unbelievable if you make it”. So I’ve never had any shame about this and my father’s never had any shame about it.’ England is one of the ten full members of the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...

, while Ireland is an associate member. Only full member nations can play a full schedule of international cricket, including Test matches.

In May 2007, Morgan was named as one of England's twelfth men for the Lord's Test versus West Indies, and came on for Matthew Hoggard on the third day. On 16 August 2008, Morgan represented the England Lions in a list A match against the touring South Africans. He scored 47* in an unbeaten partnership of 113 with Samit Patel
Samit Patel
Samit Rohit Patel is an English cricketer of Indian descent. He plays first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. He made his One Day International debut for England in August 2008, and three years later played his first Twenty20 International in 2011.-Early and personal...

 in the course of England Lions securing a six wicket victory. Morgan was part of the England Performance Programme squad in India in the winter of 2008, although no matches were played as the tour was cancelled after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Morgan was also part of the England Lions for the winter tour of New Zealand.

2009: T20I debut

After touring with the England Lions over the winter, it was announced in April 2009 that Morgan was in England's 30-man provisional squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
2009 ICC World Twenty20
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007...

. This meant that he could not play for Ireland, who are also participating in the tournament. While disappointed to be denied Morgan's batting, team manager Roy Torrens said "[Morgan's] made no secret of that fact [wanting to play Test cricket]. So you know, it's not totally unexpected to us. We realise this is always going to be a problem with our better players playing in England".

Morgan's progression towards representing the senior England side continued when in May 2009 he was named in England's 14-man squad to face West Indies in a three-match ODI series and the 15-man squad for the World Twenty20. Morgan made his England debut in the second One Day International (after the first was abandoned due to rain), and also played in the third of the series. Morgan was not given much of a chance to impress with the bat, due to not coming in to bat until late in the innings, but was praised for his athletic fielding. Morgan played in the opening match of the World Twenty20 against the Netherlands, but after England's defeat played no further part in the tournament.

At the end of the English Summer, Morgan was involved in the ODI against Australia
Australian cricket team in England in 2009
The Australia national cricket team toured Great Britain to play a series of cricket matches during the 2009 English cricket season. The team played five Test matches – one in Wales – seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals against England. The Australians also...

. Although they had just lost the Ashes
2009 Ashes series
The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests, with England winning the series 2–1...

 to England in the Test series, Australia won the first five games with Morgan one of few batsmen to emerge with any credit, including a first one-day half century for England in the fifth match, winning praise with his innovative style.

In the first game of the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, Morgan led England to an unexpected victory over much fancied Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...

. He hit an unbeaten 62, and was well supported by Middlesex colleague Owais Shah
Owais Shah
Owais Alam Shah is an English cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex between 1996-2010, before joining Essex CCC in the winter of 2010. He has represented England in all forms of the games.Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 ODIs and 17 Twenty20 Internationals...

. Morgan kept wicket for the first time in his professional career in the next match against South Africa, after regular wicket-keeper Matt Prior was struck down by illness. Morgan scored 67 runs from just 34 balls in England's innings.

2010: Test debut

On 2 March 2010, Morgan became the first ever player to score centuries for two nations, as he scored an unbeaten 110 against Bangladesh.

He was an important part of England's Twenty20 team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20
2010 ICC World Twenty20
-------------------------------------------------Group A:---------Group B:---------Group C:---------Group D:---------Super 8s:...

 tournament in the West Indies. He top-scored in England's group games against the West Indies and his native Ireland, as well as the Super Eights game against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

. Due to effective team bowling and half-centuries from Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...

 and Craig Kieswetter
Craig Kieswetter
Craig Kieswetter is an England cricketer of South African and Scottish heritage. He is a wicket-keeper batsman. An aggressive batsman, he began his career with the South Africa Under-19s, before stating that he wished to play international cricket for England. He began playing county cricket for...

, he was hardly needed in the semi-final against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...

 and final against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

, finishing not-out in both matches.

On the back of his one day success, he was then included in England's Test squad for the home series against Bangladesh. With Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...

 rested, he made his début in the first Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 on 27 May 2010. He scored 44 runs in the first innings but was not required in the second innings as England won by eight wickets after making Bangladesh follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...

. In the second Test, he scored 37 runs as England won by an innings and 80 runs.

England then hosted Australia in a five-match ODI series
Australian cricket team in England in 2010
-2nd ODI:-3rd ODI:-4th ODI:-5th ODI:-Tour match:...

. In the first game, Morgan scored an unbeaten 103 off 85 balls at the Rose Bowl and followed it up with a half-century in the second, with England winning both matches. England won the series with two games to spare, although they lost both dead rubbers, and Morgan was named Player of the Series.

An injury to Ian Bell saw Morgan retained for the Test series against Pakistan. In the first Test at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

, he scored a century as England won by 354 runs.

Morgan took part in the 2010 Indian Premier League
2010 Indian Premier League
The 2010 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 3 or the 2010 IPL, was the third season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2007. The tournament was hosted by India and had an estimated television audience of more than 200 million...

 (IPL). In the preceding player auction, he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a sum of $220,000. However, he was frequently in and out of the side and was not given much opportunity.
Morgan was purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders for $350,000 at the 2011 IPL auctions for the next 3 years.

2011

Morgan was not initially named in England's squad for the 2011 World Cup
2011 Cricket World Cup
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a World Cup...

 as he was suffering from a fractured finger, but was later called up following an injury to Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...

. On 11 th March 2011 he made his World Cup debut for England, scoring 63 runs in the defeat to Bangladesh, making him only the fourth player to have represented two different nations at the Cricket World Cup.
The retirement of Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...

 from Test cricket opened up a place in England's batting order. Morgan and Ravi Bopara were the leading contenders for the position; while Bopara stayed in England to play county cricket, Morgan chose to play in the IPL for six weeks. In nine innings for Kolkata Knight Riders Morgan scored 137 runs with a highest score of 66. His first first-class innings of the English season was in a match for the England Lions against the touring Sri Lankans alongside batsmen competing to the vacant place in England's batting line up. He scored 193 and according to the national selector it was enough to secure his selection for the squad to face Sri Lanka in first Test against Sri Lanka in May
Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 2011
-First-class: England Lions vs Sri Lankans:-First class: Essex vs Sri Lankans:-List A: Worcestershire Royals vs Sri Lankans:-1st Test:Jonathan Trott's score of 203 is the highest score by an English batsman against Sri Lanka, beating the previous score of 174 set by Graham Gooch in 1991. Sri...

. England won the three-match series 1–0, with Morgan scoring 168 runs from four innings including two half-centuries. Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...

 replaced Collingwood as T20I captain in June, and Morgan was named as vice-captain in the format. England also won the five-match ODI series 3–2, with Morgan scoring 158 runs including another two half-centuries. His performance in the series saw Morgan move up one place in the ICC's ODI rankings to 23rd.

Morgan retained his place when India toured England later that summer for four Tests. In the first three innings Morgan managed just19 runs, including two ducks however in the second innings of the second Test Morgan partnered Matt Prior as the two scored rapid half-centuries against a struggling Indian bowling attack. England won the match by 319 runs. An injury to Jonathan Trott meant that Ravi Bopara, with whom Morgan had been competing for a place earlier that summer, was called into the side. Whereas Bopara scored just seven runs in the third Test, Morgan scored his second Test century as England amassed 710/7 declared. England won the Test series 4–0 and in the process replaced India as the number 1 ranked Test team in the world. Morgan's 194 runs in the series came at an average of 32.33.

After the series win against India, Cook was rested for England's one-off ODI against Ireland and Morgan handed the captaincy for the fixture, becoming only the third Irish man to lead England. An innings of 59 from Morgan shepherded his inexperienced team, which featured three debutantes, to victory and secured him the Man-of-the-Match award. During a T20I against India in late August, Morgan's shoulder became acutely painful. He underwent surgery and missed the home and away ODI series against India. Mitigating this disappointment, in September Morgan was awarded a central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...

 (ECB) until September 2012 for the first time.

Middlesex

Morgan scored his maiden first-class century for Middlesex on 5 July 2008 at Uxbridge. This was done off 250 balls. He achieved this against the touring South Africans before their Test series against England; the innings included three sixes off spinner Paul Harris. Morgan was part of Middlesex's victorious Twenty20 Cup
Twenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...

 winning side in 2008. He underlined his growing maturity after leading Middlesex to victory in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 against Kent. After regular captain Shaun Udal
Shaun Udal
Shaun David Udal is an English cricketer. An off spin bowler and lower-middle order batsman, he was a member of England's Test team for their tours to Pakistan and India in 2005/06.-International career:...

 was injured on the morning of the match, Morgan was named captain, at a remarkable age of just 22, having been chosen over senior players Owais Shah
Owais Shah
Owais Alam Shah is an English cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex between 1996-2010, before joining Essex CCC in the winter of 2010. He has represented England in all forms of the games.Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 ODIs and 17 Twenty20 Internationals...

, Chris Silverwood
Chris Silverwood
Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood is an English first-class cricketer.Educated at Garforth Comprehensive School in Leeds, as a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler Silverwood made his debut for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1993...

, Murali Kartik
Murali Kartik
Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

 and Tyron Henderson
Tyron Henderson
Tyron Henderson is a South African cricketer.Henderson has represented South Africa in a Twenty20 International. An all-rounder, Henderson played for Middlesex. He was purchased by the Rajasthan Royals for whopping $650,000 in the Indian Premier League Season 2 Auction...

. It was Middlesex's first four-day victory of the season. Udal returned to captain the side for the next match against Essex.

ODI centuries

Ireland:
# Date Opponent Ground Score
1 4 Feb 2007 Jaffery Sports Club Ground
Jaffery Sports Club Ground
The Jaffery Sports Club Ground is a cricket ground situated in Nairobi, Kenya. It hosted its first ODI international during the 2007 World Cricket League in Kenya....

, Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

115


England:
# Date Opponent Ground Score
1 2 March 2010 Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

110*
2 22 June 2010 The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

103*
3 22 September 2010 The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

107*

Test centuries

# Date Opponent Ground Score
1 29 July 2010 Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England 130
2 12 August 2011 Edgbaston, Birmingham, England 104

External links

  • Player Profile: Eoin Morgan from CricketArchive
    CricketArchive
    CricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...

  • Middlesex County Cricket Club
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