Edmund Joyce

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Edmund Joyce (born 22 September 1978 in Dublin) is a professional cricket player.

He first came to local notice at Dublin club Merrion CC. At a young age, he represented the club at a high level and provincial and national representative honours soon followed. His performances in Ireland soon caught the attention of English county sides and in 1999, he made his county debut for Middlesex.

Over the years, Joyce has impressed many commentators on the game, including notably Shane Warne, with his consistent high scores and stylish play. As a result of his performance, Joyce has frequently been mentioned as a player with a future in the England set up. One of the ironies of the current cricket structure means that although Joyce was instrumental in securing Ireland's qualification for the Cricket World Cup in 2007, he is far more likely to represent England at the tournament. He became naturalised in May 2005 and this has led to speculation regarding a possible call up to the senior England team. He received a significant vote of confidence in September 2005 when he was selected to join the ECB academy squad.

He has since received his first England ODI caps, and was called up as a replacement for Marcus Trescothick for the 2006-2007 ashes series in Australia. In the subsequent Commonwealth Bank Series, he got a couple of good starts, but failed to carry on. He played a fine 66 against New Zealand in Perth and even though he got a fifty, a maiden ODI hundred still remained elusive. Not for long though, as in his next match against Australia at the SCG, he made 106 and was instrumental in England's first victory over Australia in 10 games. He was the man of the match.