Eoin's goal

When the Irish national team qualified for the 2007 World Cup, there was a noticeable lack of dancing in the streets and the general euphoria you’d associate with national sporting success.

Well, it was the cricket World Cup. Other designated ‘foreign games’ such as rugby and soccer have long since captured the nation’s heart and overcome any residual traces of Little Irelander bigotry, but cricket (and hockey) have had a harder time of it, still perceived in many quarters as quintessentially colonial pursuits akin to fox-hunting or Morris dancing.
This year, that may all be about to change. Eoin Morgan and comrades head to the West Indies in March to pit their skills against the world’s finest, and depending on how impressively they progress, they might just be about to permanently raise the profile of Irish cricket. By common consensus, the current Irish team is the best in its short cricketing history, with Morgan – a promising 20-year-old left-handed middle-order batsman on the point of becoming a regular starter for Middlesex – the ace in the pack.
A chatty, articulate lad with a natural flair for the media fray, Morgan can scarcely conceal his excitement as he shoots the breeze with hotpress. “I can’t wait to get started and get out there,” he affirms.
“I’ve been waiting around since the season finished in September, so I’ve been training ever since. I know what we’re capable of, and the effect it might have on Irish cricket. The group we’re in is a pretty tough one, with Pakistan, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. But we’re not going there to make up the numbers. We beat Zimbabwe four years ago, and we beat the West Indies two years ago. We know that on any given day, if we perform as we can, and the others have a bad day, anything can happen. Zimbabwe have hit a bad slump of form recently, so we’re probably favourites going into that. Realistically, we think two wins are achievable. Pakistan might be a bridge too far, they probably have too many weapons for a country like us. But we’ll learn so much just from playing against them.”
Are there any players Morgan is particularly looking forward to facing?
“Brian Lara, who’s a West Indies legend. He’s getting on a bit now – he’s 34 or 35 – and I’m 20. I used to watch him when I was really young, so playing against him in a World Cup will be unbelievable. Then there’s the Pakistani bowler, Shoaib Akhtar. He’s back after a ban for taking nandrolone – he got a two-year ban, but it was overruled. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed now that he can play. We’ve so much video footage of all these bowlers, we’ll be very well prepared. Handling them on the day is another story.’
Has he enjoyed the Ashes?
“I always do. England have massively under-performed as a team. The Aussie bowling attack was unbelievable, the way they went about it. [Shane] Warne and [Glenn] McGrath knew this was their last shout, so they wanted to go out with a bang. Winning an Ashes series 5-0; it doesn’t get any better than that. From the England point of view, I’d have liked to see Ed Joyce get a run-out.”
With Ireland still classed as an “associate nation”, Morgan will be eligible to play for England if considered for selection, a course of action he would be mad to refuse. Even the most patriotic observer would have to concede that, in cricketing terms, such a move is equivalent to a transfer from Bray Wanderers to Manchester United.
“Like any sportsman I want to play at the highest level I can,” Morgan points out, “If England come knocking, you don’t refuse. Of course, I need to keep playing as best I can for Middlesex, and hopefully the rest will fall into place.”
In the interim, there’s much to accomplish with Ireland: “As regards raising the profile of Irish cricket, and developing it as best we can, there’s no point doing well if no-one knows we exist. We need more publicity in the Irish media – TV, radio and newspapers. We have to promote the sport or no-one will take any notice. I’d like to see a 20/20 competition between the four provinces, which could be televised, which would then bring sponsorship and publicity. Rugby has done something similar and it’s been the best thing that could have happened.”