Ireland splits captaincy, Stirling named permanent white-ball captain, Balbarine to continue in red-ball cricket

Dublin: Paul Stirling has been named Ireland men’s permanent white-ball captain effective immediately, while Andrew Balbirnie will continue as their red-ball captain as national selectors look towards the next cycle with two T20 World Cups and a 50-over World Cup set to be played in the next four years.

Stirling, who was appointed the interim white-ball captain in July after Andrew Balbirnie stepped down from that role has led Ireland 22 times across formats (six ODIs, 16 T20Is).

Stirling has appeared for Ireland on 376 occasions and has amassed 11,756 runs across all formats – Ireland Men’s highest-ever run-scorer.

He is also one of only 25 cricketers to score a century in all three formats.

Speaking of his permanent appointment, Stirling said, “Playing for Ireland has always been a source of pride for me and to be confirmed the permanent white-ball captain is a recognition I don’t take for granted.

“I have very much enjoyed working with Heinrich (Malan) and the coaching staff over the last few months as interim skipper, but we all know that we have potentially three World Cup campaigns over the next four years and the work starts now.

“We also recognize that there are only eight months now to the next T20 World Cup, so the clock has well and truly started on our preparations.”

Ireland National Selector Andrew White said Stirling has pledged his service to Ireland cricket and also thanked him for taking up the service.

“We’re delighted that Stirlo [Paul Stirling] has accepted the role and – despite working closely with him in an interim capacity over the last few months – it feels as though we are now at the start of a new cycle with a lot of cricket coming our way over the next four years,” said White

“The splitting of the white-ball and red-ball captaincy is an important piece for us, as the responsibilities both on-field and off-field as a captain are immense. We believe Andrew Balbirnie has much to give in red-ball leadership and want him to continue in that capacity, while Paul will focus on the ODI and T20 disciplines, he added.

“To have Paul and Andrew, with 600 caps of experience between them, as our white and red ball captains respectively means we have a vast reservoir of cricket knowledge that can benefit the wider squad,” he said.

–IANS