Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Morgan in line to replace injured Pietersen at Headingley



Eoin Morgan (above, right) is in contention to make his England debut in the first one-day international against West Indies at Headingley on Thursday.

The Middlesex batsman has averaged 35.42 in 23 ODIs for his native Ireland and is now set to embark on the next stage of his international career after being called up to the England squad for both 20 and 50-over cricket.

The hosts, fresh from a 2-0 success in the Test series against the same opponents, must do without star duo Andrew Flintoff (knee) and Kevin Pietersen (Achilles) for the duration of the three-match series.

Their absence provides an opportunity for several players to stake a claim, most notably Morgan, Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell and Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan.

England's top five has a familiar look with captain Andrew Strauss and Ravi Bopara pencilled in as the opening partnership and Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood the incumbents at three and five respectively.

That leaves the number four position, usually Pietersen's, available in Leeds for either Bell or Morgan.

Bresnan, who played in the two Tests, is likely to be tasked with filling Flintoff's boots, while James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann provide the bulk of the bowling attack.
The final place in the starting XI is between fit-again left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom and big-hitting all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas.

"There were some fresh faces in there (for the Test series) and they all came to the party," said Strauss. "That's what you need - some depth.

"There have been times over the last 18 months when we have relied on the likes of Kevin Pietersen far too much but if we are to have a successful summer we need contributions from all 11."

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