England win Cricket World Cup: Who is captain Eoin Morgan?

It's not often you see Irish fans cheering an English victory in any sport.

But old sporting rivalries were put aside on Sunday during the Cricket World Cup when England beat New Zealand at Lord's.

The victorious team was captained by none other than Dublin-born Eoin Morgan.

Many, even the Irish prime minister, tweeted joy at the Irishman lifting the trophy for the English side.

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Who is Eoin Morgan?

He's 32, was born in Dublin, to a family of six children, and is married to Australian Tara Ridgway.

Cricket has an enthusiastic but relatively small following in Ireland, with it way behind Gaelic games, football and rugby in the Irish sporting consciousness.

But there was never any doubt Morgan would end up with a bat in his hand, with the sport being a family obsession begun by his great-grandfather, as noted by Cricket Monthly.

He began playing as a child in the seaside town of Rush, County Dublin, and his old cricket club was celebration central on Sunday, with members thronging the clubhouse to cheer England home.

Morgan, who plays county cricket for Middlesex, did play other sports growing up, notably hurling - leading some to attribute the left-hander's prowess at the notoriously difficult reverse sweep partly to his skills with a hurl.

However, while Morgan said it's "a fantastic sport", he said its link to his professional cricket career gets "blown out of proportion all the time".

In 2014, Morgan was made England's one-day captain, replacing Alastair Cook. The move came just two months before the 2015 Cricket World Cup - where England flopped, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Eoin Morgan pictured after England were eliminated from the 2015 World Cup

It was an inauspicious start to captaincy, but under Morgan's stewardship England recovered to become the number one ranked side going into this year's World Cup and eventual triumph.

His father Jody Morgan told BBC Radio Foyle that he "just hugged" his son after the win.

"He brings a proud tradition to England from Ireland," he said. "He's a fourth generation cricketer from our family.

"He's not nearly as emotional as I am. He churns up inside but he doesn't show it.

"He is so proud of all he has done. He deserves it all."

How did a Dublin man end up leading the English side?

Morgan, whose mother is English, made his one-day international debut for Ireland in August 2006 but never hid his ambition to play professional cricket.

His only pathway to Test cricket was by declaring for England - at the time, Ireland was an associate member of the International Cricket Council but only full members can play Test matches.

England captain Eoin Morgan lifts the World Cup trophy surrounded by team mates

A British passport holder from birth, Morgan declared for England in 2009.

Can anyone play for England ?

England's World Cup winners were led by an Irishman and also featured players born in Barbados (Jofra Archer), New Zealand (Ben Stokes) and South Africa (Jason Roy).

So how does eligibility work?

Here's the criteria, as of 1 January 2019, from the England and Wales Cricket board:

a) British Citizenship and,

b) Either born in England/Wales, or three years' residence (a total of 210 days/year April-March) and

c) Not played as a local player in professional international or domestic cricket in a Full Member country within the last three years.

It may be unusual for an Irishman to switch allegiance to England - but Morgan was not the first cricketer to do so.

Ireland batsman Ed Joyce, 40, also opted to leave the Irish set-up to play for England in 2006 before returning to play for Ireland in the 2011 World Cup.

The Dubliner received special dispensation from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Londonderry-born medium-fast bowler Boyd Rankin announced he would cease playing for Ireland in 2012 and featured in England's unsuccessful Ashes tour of Australia in 2013.

But with his selection prospects looking gloomy, he switched back to play for Ireland in 2015, and the 35-year-old has since representing the nation in both 20 and 50-over formats.

Morgan showing off the silverware at a victory event in London on Tuesday

Morgan's former team-mate and Irish captain Kyle McCallan told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme it was no surprise when he left Ireland for England.

"From the day and hour he came in to the Irish set-up, he made it clear that he wanted to be the best player in the world," he said.

"He wanted to play cricket at the very highest level and at that stage the opportunity for Ireland to do that wasn't there."

In June 2017, Ireland, alongside Afghanistan, was granted Test status by the International Cricket Council.

"Now we are a test nation," said McCallan, "so the next Eoin Morgan can achieve what he has, but playing in green.

"He has been a trailblazer in so many ways.

"While he's doing it for England, it's wonderful that someone with a strong Dublin accent is leading the way as a world champion."