The England & Wales Cricket Board has announced that Irish-born batsman Eoin Morgan will be the England's captain at next year's ICC Cricket World Cup, replacing Alastair Cook as one-day skipper.

The move comes just days after the team endured a difficult time in Sri Lanka, where they lost five times in the seven-matches series, which came less than two months before the World Cup gets underway.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the man who will lead the side in Australia and New Zealand.

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Born in Dublin in September 1986, Morgan's cricketing talent was noticeable from an early age, as he won three senior cup titles in school, while also taking part in hurling several times a week.

The 28-year-old has credited the Gaelic sport with helping him develop his batting, particularly the reserve sweep, a shot which Morgan has become notable for in recent years, as hurling involves using a double-sided stick with a similar grip needed to pull off the shot.

After coming through the youth ranks in Ireland, Morgan made his international debut against Scotland in 2006, scoring 99 in his first innings to secure a place in the Irish squad for the 2007 World Cup, but he struggled with the bat at the tournament, scoring just 91 runs in nine innings.

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Later that year, Morgan saw his first involvement in the England squad as he was named 12th man for their Test against the West Indies at Lord's, filling in for Matthew Hoggard in the field on the third day.

After a tour with the England Lions in 2008, Morgan secured a spot in the World Twenty20 squad with England, but featured just once in the tournament - in the infamous defeat to the Netherlands.

One of Morgan's reasons for switching from Ireland to England was to be able to play in Test matches, and he made his full debut in the longest form of the game in 2010 against Bangladesh.

Domestically, Morgan has represented Middlesex at county level since 2006. He scored his first century for the team off 250 balls in 2008, which was the same year that he helped the side win the Twenty20 Cup.

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Morgan's big-hitting style has seen him excel in the shorter forms of the game and earned him a spot in the lucrative Indian Premier League, but he pulled out of the annual auction earlier this year, leading to speculation that he wants to win back a place in England's Test side.

Having averaged 30.43 runs per innings in his 16 matches to date, Morgan has not played Test cricket since 2012, with England selectors seemingly deciding that his batting style is more suited to the shorter formats, although some have suggested that he could fill the void left by Kevin Pietersen's removal from the team.

In his 130 one-day internationals, Morgan has scored 3725 runs at an average of 36.51, with his high score of 124 coming against Ireland in a triangular series also featuring Australia last year, in which he captained the side while Cook was rested.

While Cook's batting form has dipped during his time as captain, Morgan has performed better with the bat while deputising, including on the tour of Sri Lanka where he scored his only half-century while acting as skipper when Cook was suspended.

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While it is unclear if Morgan will move himself higher up the order for the World Cup, he has often been seen as a finisher, coming in at five or six to help build up a score or chase down a target.

It will be a tough task for Morgan to lead England to success in the tournament, with the side drawn against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland in their group, and needing a top four finish to progress.