There will not be any tears in the eyes of Eoin Morgan when he tosses up with his old sparring partner, William Porterfield, at Bristol on Friday or on Sunday at Lord’s, where they both started their professional careers a dozen years ago.

Back then Morgan was a novice on Middlesex’s books – and they saw a lot more of him in St John’s Wood in those days than they do now. Porterfield, meanwhile, was on the Lord’s groundstaff. Even as young men they were old mates since they had played under-13s cricket together in Ireland.

Steely-eyed Morgan is famously clinical in his analysis. For him a match against Ireland is “pretty much another game” and he gave short shrift to any notion that he might one day return to Irish colours with an immediate and decisive monosyllable. Morgan, on a whistle-stop trip back to England from India – he goes back next week for two IPL matches – is more interested in the evolution of England’s one-day team and the pursuit of that elusive Champions Trophy in June.

Morgan was clear about England’s plans for their first series against Ireland. They have a squad of 14 players but it would be a major surprise if the two men who are not included in the Champions Trophy squad, Steven Finn and Ben Duckett, get a game. “We’ve got David Willey coming back, who’s played Championship cricket, Liam Plunkett is back from a calf injury and Mark Wood has obviously had quite a long, arduous stint back from injury. So getting cricket under those guys’ belts is really important.”

Morgan confirmed that Jonny Bairstow, fresh from cracking 174 for Yorkshire against Durham as an opening batsman, will bat at No5 and that Sam Billings will keep wicket. He went on to explain this does not mean that Billings is number two in the wicketkeeping pecking order for white-ball cricket after Jos Buttler. “We have long identified that this is an opportunity to have a look at Sam fulfilling a similar role to that of Jos.” He acknowledged Bairstow would also like to keep and that the Yorkshireman fully understands the situation.

Billings is in danger of becoming the ultimate cricketing supersub. He will bat anywhere, he can keep wicket and Morgan describes him as a “gun” fieldsman. He has done the rounds this winter, not just in the IPL but also the Big Bash and the Pakistan Super league. He is cheerfully realistic about his status with England even if he would like that to change. “As long as I’m playing I can’t be too picky. Just playing is the main thing,” he says.

Billings, who may also return to India depending on the fate of the Delhi Daredevils, made observations about the IPL which must be music to the ears of Andrew Strauss and Morgan. “The best thing about the IPL is you share a dressing room [with big names] and previously in this country we haven’t made one-day cricket a priority,” he said. “But now people are petrified of our side. And you only find that out by talking to them. [Ben] Stokes gets a hundred, three man of the match awards. Everyone knows what he can do. Then there is [Chris] Woakes and Buttler. Every single person over there has made contributions and it shows our depth at the moment.”

There will be more grass visible on the pitch at Bristol than Billings has experienced in the IPL – “though not as much as we expected”, according to Morgan. Hence the anticipation is that England will play four pacemen and one spinner, with Joe Root on hand to help out. This would mean a straight choice between Moeen Ali, who made 90 opening the batting for Worcestershire at the weekend, and Adil Rashid. At Lord’s it is more likely that both spinners will play.

Porterfield was more open to the notion that this series, their first in England, would be a special occasion for the Irish. They are finally coming close to fulfilling their ambitions of playing Test cricket but the timing is not great since theirs is a team that is starting to grow old together.

It is instructive that Ireland have seven survivors from that great game in Bangalore in 2011 when England were spectacularly beaten in the World Cup; England have no survivors (Morgan was injured). A victory for Ireland in Bristol in 2017 would be even more remarkable.

While England’s men are all returning to fitness at just the right time (stiff competition for places often seems to make that happen) there was worrying news for the women’s side given the proximity of the World Cup. Their captain, Heather Knight, has sustained a small metatarsal fracture to her left foot and is expected to be out of action for five to six weeks. If her recovery goes as expected she should be available for selection for England’s warm-up match against Sri Lanka on 19 June.