[interview] England look likely to land the talented Eoin Morgan

Bluetonic

England look likely to land the talented Eoin Morgan

EOIN Morgan is heading to the cricket World Cup next month with Ireland – but in a few years time he could be starring alongside fellow Irishman Ed Joyce in the same competition – with England!

Morgan, a former Fingal star and well known and respected from Rush to Malahide and back to Balrothery, has revealed that a role with England is his ultimate goal in the game.

‘I’ve been playing in England for four years now and a role with the national side is what I’m looking at. You should always strive to play at the highest level and England must be what I’m looking at,’ he stated.

He has proved a key addition to the Middlesex team and working with the likes of John Emburey has fast tracked England’s natural interest in him.

But for the moment the gifted batsman is looking no further than a few weeks time and the start of the World Cup, cheered on by the ‘Blarney Army’ from Fingal.

‘I hear there’s a good crowd going to Jamaica from Fingal and it will be great to hear them over there,’ he remarked.

Ireland face a couple of big games against the West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe and Eoin has his views on how those matches could go.

‘We have to target the Zimbabwe match as one we can win. They’ve had a slump in recent years and we feel we have the measure of them. We’ve beaten the West Indies in the past but we know they’ll have to underperform if we are to stand a chance against them over there. Pakistan is another big one. They have some class players but we’ll be up for the battle in all the games.’

Of course Ireland and Morgan go into the series on a real high. They played in the World Cricket League in Kenya and didn’t do well. They headed off to Abu Dhabi for a vital Inter Continental Cup tie with the UAE and a performance of enormous character has really fired up the side.

‘We knew we had to win the game to make the final later in the year and we really stuck together as a team and the result was terrific.’

Morgan entered the game after hitting 115 against Canada and then 95 against Holland. So what would he do against the UAE?

‘We lost a couple of guys early on after we won the toss and decided to bat. Then Andre (Botha) and myself came together and we just kept setting ourselves goals as we went along. Our styles complement each other. He plays square, I play straighter and once we passed 15 runs in the sun and on a hard wicket we pushed it along. The focus was there. We are the defending champions and we just didn’t want to lose this one,’ Eoin added.

As it turned out, both players set records galore as Morgan went on to hit an unbeaten 209, an all-time Irish record.

As it stands today, Morgan feels fresh and eager for the World Cup and the season ahead.

‘After the last game for Middlesex I took three months off and just worked on my fitness. I came back around Christmas and now I feel right for the challenges ahead. When you play in England you are expected to go to places likes South Africa and Australia during the winter and this is the first time I haven’t gone in the past few years.’

Playing with Middlesex allows Morgan to play at the home of cricket – Lord’s – and he knows how lucky he is.

‘Maybe sometimes I take it for granted. But it is like having Croke Park as your home ground week after week. It’s the home of the sport after all.’

Morgan gets the chance to walk down the famed steps into the arena, something any cricketer dreams about.

‘After the World Cup I’ll be back in action for Middlesex. We had a difficult year last year and some of the younger lads came in, including myself. Ed Joyce is with us which is great. He’s a great cricketer and is held in high regard in England.’

http://www.unison.ie/fingal_independent/stories.php3?ca=37&si=1782549&issue_id=15296

Helix

played against eoin years ago, he was playing against our second team when he was about 12