Irish cricket legend William Porterfield Retire’s

Irish cricket legend William Porterfield has today announced his retirement from international and representative cricket – leaving the game with many records and memorable performances, including being the longest-serving Ireland Men’s captain by some considerable distance.

 Porterfield, 37, amassed 310 caps (across all formats) for Ireland after making his international debut in a First-class match against Namibia in May 2006. He ends his career as the third most capped Irish international and second-highest run-scorer for Ireland.

 The left-handed top-order batter, who started out playing his club cricket with Donemana, struck the first of his 18 centuries for Ireland against the MCC in a one-day match at Lord’s in August 2006, going on to register 9,507 runs for Ireland at an average of 31.07, and a best of 186 against Namibia in 2015.

 Of his more iconic innings, Irish fans fondly remember his 107 against Pakistan in Adelaide at the 2015 Men’s World Cup and his 112 against England in an ODI at Malahide in 2013 as two of his best knocks

 A renowned slip fielder and inner-ring fielder, he also took 146 catches and effected 24 run outs during his international career.

 Porterfield made the move early to base himself in England, after featuring for the MCC Young Cricketers, and had a successful county career with Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. In latter years, he became a stalwart of the North West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial Series in Ireland, showing his enduring run-scoring abilities finishing fourth-highest run-scorer in both the domestic 50-over and T20 competitions in 2021.

 As a captain, Porterfield led the senior Irish side an incredible 253 times – taking over from former skipper Trent Johnston in 2008 at the age of 23 (the second-most appearances as Irish captain was Johnston with 60). Adding to his longevity in leadership roles, Porterfield had also led national youth sides from Under-13s level upwards, and also took the reins of an ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI side that played an England XI in 2012. He led Ireland to two 50-over World Cups and five T20 World Cups, but perhaps his most significant moment as captain was leading Ireland Men’s team out at its historic first-ever Test match in May 2018.

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