William Porterfield

A high backlift and a strong back-foot player, Porterfield is a solid left-handed opening batsman who has been ever-present for the Irish team since his international debut in 2006.

While the likes of Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin have had this idea of representing England, Porterfield has been a loyal servant to his nation and is the backbone of the Irish batting line-up.

Born in Londonderry, Ireland, the stylish batter made his Ireland debut in the 2006 European Championship Division One ODI match against Scotland. He had a decent outing with the bat but shot to prominence after a couple of games when the southpaw slammed back-to-back centuries against Bermuda and Kenya.

Porterfield has captained Ireland at all levels right from the U-13 days and was made the permanent captain of the Irish team in 2008.

In the 2007 World Cup, he was awarded the 'Man of the Match' for his scintillating 85 against Bangladesh in a Super Eight game. 

He was instrumental in Ireland’s success at the 2011 World Cup, as they defeated England in a nervy encounter and played some really good cricket throughout the tournament. The skipper managed to score 180 runs in six innings, including two half-centuries.

He was named as the Ireland skipper for the 2014 World T20I qualifier tournament. Ireland won their opening two qualifying matches but couldn’t progress to the main competition, courtesy of the Netherlands having a better net run-rate in the qualifying stages.

His next major assignment was the 2015 World Cup. Ireland stunned West Indies in the opening match of the tournament but faltered in the end losing three of their remaining four games and finishing fifth in the points table.

The year 2018 was a special occasion for Irish cricket as they received the status of a Test-playing nation, and Porterfield was handed the captaincy for Ireland’s first-ever Test match, played against Pakistan. 

A stalwart of Irish cricket, Porterfield has been an inspiration for many young cricketers back in Ireland. While many cricketers from Ireland have left the country for better opportunities elsewhere, Porterfield has stayed back and under his captaincy, Irish cricket has flourished over the years. 

(As of April 21)