Australian man attempted to blackmail Eoin Morgan for £35,000

Eoin Morgan

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have confirmed that they received an email, asking them to pay £35,000 if they didn’t want a story about their ODI captain Eoin Morgan to appear in the media.

An Australian man, who hasn’t been named yet, is in a relationship with a woman who Morgan dated around 5 years ago. The ECB statement indicates that the man in question attempted to blackmail the ECB and Morgan as a result of ‘jealousy’.

The ECB also added that they will not let such incidents affect the English team ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which begins on February 14 in Australia and New Zealand. The Morgan-led team start their campaign on day one of the competition, against hosts and arch-rivals Australia.

Speaking on the matter, ECB’s Managing Director Paul Downton said: "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."

The woman in question is said to be furious with her current boyfriend over the issue.

Morgan is currently in a long term relationship with Tara Ridgway, who is also an Australian citizen. According to Ridgway’s Twitter account, she is studying law and PR at Bond University in Australia.

Wimbledon with @Eoin16 !pic.twitter.com/6hL8i3ScIS

— Tara Ridgway (@TaraRidgway) June 28, 2014