Eoin Morgan is an Irish-born Englishman with a reputation for inventive and audacious strokeplay. At the age of 23, he shot to prominence on the back of two match-winning innings against South Africa. First was a 34-ball 67 in the Champions Trophy in September 2009 which he followed two months later with an unbeaten 45-ball 85 in the opening Twenty20 of England's tour of South Africa. His bold approach and crisp hitting was reminiscent of the arrival of another English import, Kevin Pietersen, in 2005. With a blend of nous and power, Morgan looks a natural 'finisher' - a role England have struggled to fill for a decade.

A compact left-hander, Morgan grew up playing hurling and with his change-up sweeps and pulls, he has clearly taken aspects of the Irish sport into his cricket. He gained initial recognition with Ireland, averaging 52.20 in the World Cricket League, including his first ODI century, a sublime 115 from 106 balls against Canada. In the 2007 World Cup, as his team-mates impressed, Morgan disappointed with 91 runs from nine games. He joined his fellow Anglo-Irishman, Ed Joyce, at Middlesex in 2006, where he helped them to the Twenty20 Cup in 2008 and caught the eye of the England selectors.

His growing stature was confirmed when he was the only England player to be awarded a new contract at the auction for the third season of the IPL in January 2010. He was signed for $220,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he joined England team-mate Kevin Pietersen. With much expected he failed to make an impression and was soon left on the substitutes bench. However, he returned to his best for England in the World Twenty20 that followed, as his powerful shot-making and coolness under pressure helped him to 183 runs and England to their first ever triumph in global limited-overs events.

It was enough to prove he had the mettle to take his game a step higher and despite a modest first-class record he was rewarded with a surprise call-up to the Test side for England's first Test of the 2010 summer, against Bangladesh. Walking out to bat at 258 for 4, he could not have asked for a gentler introduction and showed enough confidence to pick up his first Test boundary with a reverse-sweep.

Sahil Dutta