Morgan happy to step in and lead inexperienced England in Dublin
ENGLAND’S stand-in captain Eoin Morgan insists he cannot wait to lead the side against Ireland today.
After the 4-0 whitewash of India in the Test series, attention now shifts to the shorter form of the game with Irish-born Morgan leading the team in the absence of Alistair Cook, who is being rested.
Following today’s game England return to face India in five one-day internationals before then travelling to the subcontinent to play India in five further one-day games in October.
Morgan said: “A couple of guys have been given a rest and I’ve stepped in. It is a great opportunity to experience another leadership role in the side that I’m very excited about.
“We’ve played Ireland three times in recent times and they have all been very competitive games, the side knows what Ireland are capable of and we know that we will have to go out and play very good cricket to go and beat them.”
Team director Andy Flower is also rested for the trip to Dublin with assistant coach Richard Halsall taking his place.
Morgan will lead an inexperienced group of players featuring the likes of Yorkshire’s Jonathan Bairstow, Scott Borthwick and Ben Stokes of Durham, Surrey’s Jade Dernbach and Leicestershire’s James Taylor.
Craig Kieswetter, Samit Patel and Chris Woakes are also in the squad.