Being England cricket captain throws up its fair share of
challenges, but blackmail plots are not usually among them. However, Eoin Morgan has been embroiled in a bizarre case
of an Australian man demanding £35,000 from the ECB otherwise he threatened to
release "embarrassing" information about a relationship Morgan had
with an Australian woman five years ago. Both were single at the time.
The
plot came to light in the build-up to the one-day international against
Australia in Hobart following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police and
ECB staff with the squad in Australia. The man at the centre of the incident
has been identified, and is the current partner of the woman Morgan dated, but
no charges will be brought.
An
ECB statement said: "In the last few days, the ECB received an email from
an Australian man demanding a five figure sum to prevent a story about our
one-day captain Eoin Morgan appearing in the national newspapers in the UK and
Australia.
"The
allegations related to a brief relationship Eoin had with a woman from
Australia five years ago. Following liaison with the Metropolitan Police, our
support team on the ground in Australia investigated the blackmail.
"This
involved approaching the man in question who, when confronted, admitted and
apologised for his actions, blaming jealousy (he is presently in a relationship
with the woman concerned).
"The
ECB will not allow anyone to disrupt our team's performance on the field of
play. We are wholly focussed on winning cricket matches. This matter has now
been brought to a conclusion and we will not be seeking further action against
the individual at this stage."
Paul
Downton, the managing director of England cricket, added: "We will not
allow anyone to disrupt our team's preparation or performance in the tri-series
and as we build up to the World Cup. I am pleased that this issue has now been
brought to a swift conclusion.
"At
this point we'd like to thank the Metropolitan Police for their advice, which
assisted us in dealing with this in the swiftest possible manner."
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