Eoin Morgan: The impactful leader

Representing one’s country in any sport is a dream of many budding athletes. But the truth of the matter is, only a handful are able to achieve this goal. It requires years and years of toil to become one of the best in the business. Hence, it is a matter of great significance to play for the country. Paradoxically, there also exist some players who have been fortunate enough to represent not just one, but two nations in a sport. 

Today, in this article by ZAP cricket, we discuss one such cricketer, who represented England Cricket Team and Ireland Cricket Team, and not only that, he even led both the teams in different phases of his career, the great- Eoin Morgan. He was a left handed batsman and first player in the history of cricket to score an ODI hundred for two nations!

Eoin Morgan’s early cricket in Ireland 

Born on 10 September, 1986, Morgan went to Catholic University School. He played domestic cricket for Middlesex. Before contributing to English cricket, he played for the Ireland Cricket Team. He was in the Youth Team for U13, U15, U17 categories. Moreover, he was selected in the Irish Under 19 squad for 2004 Under 19 World Cup. Later, he even captained the team in the 2006 Under 19 World Cup. 

With his accomplishments as a young cricketer, he was picked in the senior team as well. He made his ODI debut for Ireland on 5 August, 2006 against Scotland. In February 2007, he found his place in Ireland’s 15 member squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. In all, he played in 23 ODIs for Ireland, scoring 744 runs at an average of 35.42. 

Eoin Morgan’s International Career for England 

Morgan made his ODI debut for England on 5 August, 2006 vs Ireland, T20 debut on 5 June, 2009 vs Netherlands and Test debut on 27 May, 2010 vs Bangladesh. He is the most capped English player in ODI and T20I. After the retirement of Alastair Cook, he was handed over the reins. He led England for a good amount of time and his biggest triumph as a leader came in 2019, when England lifted their maiden Cricket World Cup. Ex English player, Nasser Hussain, once called Morgan ‘the greatest white ball captain and a revolutionary batter’.

Morgan was an aggressive batsman who used to set the template with his blasting strokes. He was the main founder cum inventor of ‘Bazball’ cricket. It was his ideology to never play a game in defensive mode. He was a really self assured and risk taking sort of a leader. His approaches were uncanny but his methods did have madness! After all, who could imagine such an aggressive style of cricket back then. 

On 13 February 2023, he announced his retirement from all forms of the game. He played his last Test on 3 February, 2012 vs Pakistan, last T20I on 23 January, 2022 vs West Indies and last ODI on 19 June, 2022 vs Netherlands.  

Eoin Morgan’s International stats 

Eoin Morgan’s honours and achievements 

• Won 2010 ICC T20 World Cup
• Under his captaincy, England clinched the 2019 Cricket World Cup
• Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2020 New Year Honours for services to cricket 
• Made an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2023

Eoin Morgan in franchise cricket 

Morgan’s stats in IPL doesn’t fully justify his potential. He has played for four different franchises over the years with his best performance coming for Kolkata Knight Riders. Because of his potential, franchises were interested in picking him. But, due to his not so successful stints, he was barely retained. In total, he played 83 matches, scoring 1405 runs with a below par average of 22.66.

Here are his complete stats with each of the franchisee: 

IPL stats

In the Big Bash League, he played for Sydney Thunder in 2013/14 and 2016/17 season. In the Caribbean Premier League, he represented Barbados Royals in 2017. Lastly, in The Hundred, he was part of the London Spirit team from 2021 till 2023. His experience in international cricket translated his performance well in franchise cricket in various parts of the world.