ICC Cricket World Cup: Ireland Soar Despite England Defections
England ODI captain Eoin Morgan moved over from Ireland for better cricketing opportunities. But while the Irish got off to a winning start to their World Cup campaign, Morgan's adopted home England were subjected to humiliating defeat by Australia.
England captain Eoin Morgan could have been forgiven for thinking about what might have been after his former Ireland team-mates made a fine start to the ICC Cricket World Cup as his miserable run of form continued.
Morgan was out for a duck -- his fourth in five innings -- as England started their World Cup campaign with a 111-run thrashing by arch-rivals Australia in Melbourne on Saturday. (England 'Over' Australia Loss Says Moeen Ali)
By contrast fellow left-handed batsman Ed Joyce -- who went from Ireland to England and back to Ireland again -- made 84 as the Irish enjoyed their latest taste of World Cup success with a four-wicket victory over the West Indies in Nelson on Monday.
Joyce, 36, made the switch to pursue a bid to play Test cricket -- something he couldn't do as an Ireland player.
He was followed across the Irish Sea by Morgan, who like Joyce -- now with Sussex -- went to Middlesex, for whom he made a debut aged 19, before featuring in the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition.
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Joyce made his England ODI debut against Ireland in 2006.
He then went on to score a hundred against Australia in Sydney and was a member of England's squad at the 2007 World Cup.
But following a lacklustre showing by his adopted country in the Caribbean, Joyce was dropped.
He was granted special dispensation by the International Cricket Council to again represent his home nation shortly before the 2011 World Cup.
Joyce said he had qualified to play for England because he wanted to play Tests, but that as a "born and bred Irishman" he was eager to again represent his country.
Morgan, 28, did play Test cricket, making his debut in 2010 and went on to score two hundreds.
But a stuttering Test career has so far yielded just 16 appearances in all, the last in 2012, and a modest average of just over 30.
- Frustration -
One of the reasons Ireland are pushing for Test match status is they are fed up of losing their best players to England, with paceman Boyd Rankin also switching allegiance.
Ireland's chief selector Alan Lewis -- a former Irish captain and international rugby referee, made his annoyance clear in an interview with podcast 'The Slog Sweep' last week.
"I look at the England set up and over the last 10 years, three people from this little island where cricket is the fourth or fifth sport are playing for a country whose national sport is cricket," Lewis said.
"It is a wee bit irritating to think where we could be if Eoin and Boyd were available; obviously we've got Ed back now.
"I wouldn't want to deprive Eoin Morgan the opportunity with the ability he has, I'd want to play at the top level...It's a great story, but it's a great frustration.
"To get our players back, that's part of the next step."
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has argued Ireland shouldn't be a 'feeder nation' for England.
"I'm very sympathetic to countries like Ireland that could keep losing their best players. It's something that I feel shouldn't happen," Ponting told the BBC.
"If the ICC look at that and are serious about Ireland continuing to grow as a nation and maybe one day being a Test-playing nation then they can't afford to have their better players going off at a young age."
But with complaints the top nations already play too much cricket, the question remains as to whether the ICC really are serious about Ireland achieving Test status.