Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Paul Stirling named Ireland’s vice-captain | Ireland announce Paul Stirling as their vice-captain across formats

Ireland batsman Paul Stirling has been named as deputy to Andrew Balbirne. Stirling has played a leadership role in Ireland’s team and was the stand-in captain in a few Ireland T20Is last year.

Stirling was thrilled on the offer of new role. “It was fitting to get a call from Bal [Andrew Balbirnie] to ask me to be his vice-captain,” he said according to the press release by Cricket Ireland.

“We’ve played together all the way up from when we were kids so I look forward to helping him shape the way this Irish side moves forward in the coming months and years ahead,” he added.

Balbirne was given the reigns of all the formats as he replaced William Porterfield in the longest format of the game and Gary Wilson as the skipper in T20Is.

“He’s had an excellent start to his captaincy with wins in the Caribbean and the sub-continent, but there is so much on your plate as captain – especially with a younger team than we’ve had in the past. So, I am happy just to be a sounding board to bounce ideas off and help implement any changes in the way Bal wants to take this team forward on and off the field.”

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Balbirne was delighted as his childhood friend was named as his deputy.

“I’ve known Paul since I was about 12 years old when we first played against each other in inter-provincial cricket. We’ve grown up together in our careers as such. We both went to Middlesex at the same time and lived together over in London, so he’s someone I consider a very close mate but also a very valuable person to have in our side from a knowledge point of view. So I didn’t really hesitate when I was thinking about who could be my vice-captain – he stuck out to me straight away.

“I first mentioned the idea to him in the Caribbean and he said he’d love to do it. He’s someone that I’ve always sought advice from when thinking about my batting, so to have him as my right-hand man over the next few years is really exciting and one I’m sure he’s excited for as well.

I think within the Irish squad we have a lot of experienced guys to be able to voice their opinion, but at the end of the day, it is my decision. To have different points of view is great and refreshing, but with someone like Paul, he is someone I’d talk to a lot about the game – it’s exciting for the next phase of the squad we’re bringing through. Even for the young players, to have someone like Paul to have a chat to in the change room or at training, he’s valuable to us both on the field and off.”

The Ireland Cricket team returned to training last week but there is still no certainty on their next cricket match. Although, there are speculations of three-match ODI series against England in July.

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.

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