Eoin Morgan invokes the Islamic deity as he praises England's diversity

England’s Eoin Morgan hailed the diversity of his World Cup-winning team after the hosts beat New Zealand in the final at Lord’s.

Morgan, who was born in Dublin and switched allegiance from Ireland to England a decade ago, was asked: 'Do you think the luck of an Irishman got England over the line?'

His response has since gone viral on social media.

'We had Allah with us as well,' said Morgan. 'I spoke to Adil (Rashid), he said Allah was definitely with us.'

'It actually epitomises our team. It has quite diverse backgrounds and cultures… to actually find humour in the situation that we were in at the time was pretty cool.'

Rashid and Moeen Ali – both Muslims – featured in England’s World Cup triumph, while the team includes several players who were born in other countries.

Author's comment: It may come as a surprise to some that Allah is in fact a great fan of world-class cricket, while his reputation for encouraging and rewarding diversity in the England team is unparalleled in modern times. 

His predilection for 'working in mysterious ways' will no doubt be of small comfort to the Pakistani cricket team whose dismal performance in the World Cup has prompted calls for more accountability, not to mention calls for throwing the entire team off a high building and then beating them to death with a ceremonial cricket bat.