Ireland legend William Porterfield announces retirement from international cricket

37-year-old former Ireland captain William Porterfield announced his retirement from international and representative cricket on Thursday, June 16 bringing an end to a decorated career in which he played 148 ODIs, 61 T20Is and 3 T20Is. Porterfield finishes as the third highest-capped Ireland cricketer and the second-highest run-getter with over 5000 runs across all three formats of the game.

William Porterfield last played for Ireland in January and it was a fitting farewell to one of the legends of Irish cricket as his side defeated West Indies 2-1 in a 3-match ODI series. Incidentally, Porterfield got out for 0 in his final outing for Ireland.

Porterfield led Ireland in over 250 matches at the highest level



and was their skipper in their first-ever Test match against Pakistan in 2018 and the Lord's Test against England. Porterfield led Ireland at two 50-over World Cup campaigns and as many as 5 T20 World Cups. Porterfield was part of the Ireland side that stunned Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup and England at the 2011 World Cup. Porterfield had also hit a hundred in the 2015 World Cup meeting against Pakistan.

Porterfield said it was a surreal feeling to hang up his boots and that he believes he was able to play his part in helping Ireland cricket get better over the years.

"It’s been an honour to represent my country for 16 years it’s something I had always wanted to do since I was a child," Porterfield said.