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20-Aug-2011 16:15:00 GMT
Ireland v England, Only ODI, Dublin

Morgan to Lead England Against Ireland

London: Eoin Morgan will captain England against his native Ireland in Thursday's one-day international in Dublin, it was announced on Saturday.

The 24-year-old former Ireland international, qualified for England on residency grounds, will be leading his adopted country for the first time after being put in charge of a largely experimental 13-man squad.

Morgan is the first Irishman to captain England in over a hundred years.

County Kildare-born Frederick Fane took over the captaincy during the Ashes tour of Australia in 1907/08, while Sir Timothy O'Brien previously led England to a Test victory against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 1896.

Newly-appointed England one-day captain Alastair Cook has been rested from this one-off match, having led the limited overs side on a permanent basis in just one series, a 3-2 success at home to Sri Lanka earlier this season.

England have omitted several players taking part in the ongoing Test series against India, which they lead 3-0 with the fourth and final Test in progress at The Oval.

Middlesex left-handed batsman Morgan is already England's Twenty20 vice-captain.

The Dubliner has been put in charge of a 13-man squad where Jonathan Trott and Ravi Bopara provide most of the remaining international experience.

The squad includes several players yet to make their international debut including Leicestershire's James Taylor, Yorkshire's Jonathan Bairstow and Durham's Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, who have all recently featured in the England Lions' ODI series win over Sri Lanka 'A'.

England national selector Geoff Miller said: "The squad we're looking to take to Ireland involves a number of exciting young England players as we rest several players currently involved in the Test series against India."

Ireland dramatically beat England by three wickets, with Kevin O'Brien scoring the fastest-ever World Cup hundred, when the teams last met in Bangalore in March.

"We know from previous encounters that Ireland are a tough ODI outfit and we'll be fielding a very strong England side that will need to play well," former England off-spinner Miller insisted.

"We're also presented with the opportunity to provide Eoin Morgan with further leadership experience."

As well as resting the likes of batsmen Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen and bowlers Graeme Swann and James Anderson, England have also decided to give coach Andy Flower a break.

Fielding coach Richard Halsall will oversee the squad in Flower's absence.

England will announce a separate squad for a five-match one-day series against India next month, which follows both the Test series and a stand-alone Twenty20 match with the 50-over World Cup holders.

Squad:

  • Eoin Morgan (capt)
  • Jonathan Bairstow
  • Ravi Bopara
  • Scott Borthwick
  • Jade Dernbach
  • Steven Finn
  • Craig Kieswetter (wk)
  • Graham Onions
  • Samit Patel
  • Ben Stokes
  • James Taylor
  • Jonathan Trott
  • Chris Woakes

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