Like many others we've been banging the drum about Eoin Morgan for some time (see our post from March, if you don't believe us). He had already made himself an integral part of the Twenty 20 and one day sides, but could he cut the mustard in the five day game?
The evidence against Bangladesh was inconclusive and it was probably only Ian Bell's broken metatarsal that kept Morgan in the side for the Trent Bridge test.
He came to the wicket when England had just lost two wickets and looked in some trouble at 118 for four. Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer had their tails up and the conditions overhead were overcast.
But Morgan took it all in his stride in a brilliant unbroken partnership of 213 with that most experienced of battlers Paul Collingwood. The pair dug in and waited for the spells of Asif and Aamer to end. When that happened, Umar Gul and Danish Kaneira came on and bowled as badly as Kamran Akmal kept wicket and boy did Morgan make them pay.
The way that the Irishman brought up his hundred summed him up. A calm and nonchalant six straight back over Shoaib Malik's head. And we were pleased that Morgan wheeled out his trademark Reverse Sweep on a regular basis.
We think that we can now say with some authority that Morgan does have the game, temperament and sheer bravado to flourish at test level. If Thomas More was a man for all season, then it would seem that Morgan is a batsman for all formats. And he is only 23 too.
What an interesting conundrum the England selectors now have as Morgan seems to fit the number six slot in the batting order perfectly. A penny for your thoughts, Geoff Miller?
Yeah he looked really good, didn't he? Showed he was ready to concede a few overs to Asif and Aamer before digging into the second line of attack. It helped that Akmal just wouldn't come up a bit further and that Pakistan were out of referrals because they would've definitely referred the LBW shout off the bowling of Malik-Mirza.
What I liked most about him was he had really good footwork against the spinners. He was at ease coming down the wicket, going right back, or extending fully to reach the pitch of the ball. That one boundary against the turn off Kaneria bowling around the wicket was magnificent.
Posted by: Mahek | Friday, July 30, 2010 at 09:06
Yes, Mahek Morgan looked good. It was a good week for number six batsmen with raina getting a hundred on debut. Although, I'd have fancied making a ton on that pitch!
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Monday, August 02, 2010 at 13:06
My grandfather and four of his brothers were Irish hurlers, like Morgan (they were the Coughlans who played for the Rockies..my great uncle Udie [Ugene wikipedia] was voted best hurler of all time) I'm London Irish and love both England and cricket... so many of Morgans shots are straight out of hurling ...the low stance, the overhead flips,..moving his head!!! the reverse sweep.. bowl him a full toss and you are fecked!. Makes him good in the field too following a moving target.....
Just glad he doesn't grab the ball and run with it now and again!
Posted by: bernard coughlan | Friday, September 24, 2010 at 08:04