Ireland cricketers up for battle with old enemy

When Ireland face England in today’s Royal London one-day international at Malahide, the familiar face of a favourite son will be 5,000 miles away in Delhi.

Dublin-born England captain Eoin Morgan, who played club cricket for Malahide as a teenager, has been given permission by the England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] to miss the match to fulfil his lucrative €200,000, six-week Indian Premier League contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The ECB’s decision to allow Morgan to skip the game has proved controversial among England supporters, but Ireland captain William Porterfield, a close friend of Morgan since childhood, says he understands the player’s keenness to maximise his earning potential.