Morgan on the march

Each of the Associates has one, possibly two, star names but Eoin Morgan, the Ireland left-hander, is one of precious few to have a professional contract with a county. His path to England has, so far, mirrored that of his friend and team-mate Ed Joyce who Morgan joined at an increasingly Irish Middlesex. And he won't be the last.

"Ireland is really proving itself to be a hot bed of talent," Morgan said at a net session in at the Aga Khan Sports Club Ground in Nairobi. "With the likes of Joyce and Niall O'Brien (Northants) playing county cricket, it shows we have a top youth development system. And it's just a matter of getting players over to England that little bit earlier, grooving them as soon as possible and getting them into the system."

Many at Middlesex, let alone those in Ireland, believe Morgan's future is even brighter than Joyce's. A forgettable duck yesterday, in Ireland's win over Bermuda, followed a slick and graceful 41 against Scotland - a match Ireland lost off the last ball. Has his (albeit brief spell) experience in England highlighted the gap in class of the Associates?

"There is a bit of a gap, but I think it's consistency," he said. "The majority of our team are part-time, not full time. They all have jobs and play at the weekends - but fortunately they are talented and do put in good performances. The gap, if there is one, is with the consistency. The guys in England have it, and we lack it because we don't play it every day because we're not professionals.

"In the long term the gap probably won't narrow," he said. "Not in my generation anyway. Cricket isn't popular enough in Ireland; we need more media coverage and more financial backing in order for it to become professional."

And therein lies the problem, not just for Ireland, but for Scotland, Netherlands, Kenya and Canada. Bermuda, the other Associate country, need to play as much as the others, of course, but their remarkable $11m grant from the government allows something of a cushion. Morgan's team-mates are amateurs, financially aided by the Ireland Cricket Union - as close to a contract as they get. He insists, however, that his team-mates' noses have not been put out by the big English counties poaching their talent.

"They don't really mind," he said with his diplomatic hat firmly screwed on, albeit with a hint of a grin forming "and they don't really say anything. They know that me being in England and playing professionally is going to have a huge impact on my game going forward and my development as a cricketer is going to be over in London, mainly because the financial aspects allow me to play full-time. The facilities, the process, all the people around me at Middlesex are grooving me to play first-class cricket and take me forward."

You can't blame him, but you can feel sorry for Ireland; his absence, and others who follow him, leave a huge hole. Ireland need to enjoy him while they have him.