Morgan is reaping the rewards of all his hard labour in the nets

The 23-year-old Irishman's unbeaten 103 made a mockery of what seemed a significant England stumble to 97-4 in the first NatWest Series contest against Australia at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

Less than two hours later, Morgan had the match wrapped up with four overs to spare and Andrew Strauss's team were already contemplating further success against the old enemy in the second match of five in Cardiff today.

The wiry left-hander has become an integral factor in England's confident new limited-overs game plans, and while Strauss has sensibly spelled out that there must not be an over-reliance on one individual, Morgan ranks increasingly high among several potential matchwinners.

Morgan, who rates his third ODI century as his best, has an apparently innate ability to beat the field but he does not take that for granted.

"I've had a small run of form recently and that's what happens, you hit it into the places you want to," he added. "When everybody goes through a run of form, they seem to hit the gaps rather than the fielders."

Morgan, who began his international career for his native Ireland, seems to have arrived as a ready-made superstar for England.

But he feels he has got to where he is only through trial and error and much endeavour.

"I've learned with experience. I've batted at four and five for a long time and been in different situations," he added.

"I've made plenty of mistakes and, over the last couple of years, I've learned to give myself a lot more time.

"I've worked on the power-hitting and the longer I stay at the crease the more I give myself a chance. I do put in a hell of a lot of hard work. I do a lot of work in my own time and with guys I like to work with.

"That's taking nothing away from England, I work quite hard with (coach) Andy Flower and the other senior players within the side."

England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), C Kieswetter (wkt), KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, LJ Wright, TT Bresnan, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, MH Yardy, RJ Sidebottom.

Australia (from): RT Ponting (captain), SR Watson, TD Paine (wkt), MJ Clarke, CL White, MEK Hussey, JR Hopes, NM Hauritz, RJ Harris, CJ McKay, DE Bollinger, JR Hazlewood, SPD Smith.