Ireland legend William Porterfield retires from international cricket

Dublin, June 16:  Former Ireland captain William Porterfield on Thursday announced his retirement from international cricket, ending his 16-year long career.

The 37-year-old Porterfield informed Cricket Ireland of his decision earlier this week and the board made the official announcement on Thursday. He ends his career as the third most capped Irish international and second-highest run-scorer for Ireland.

Compiling 11 ODI centuries, and a total of 34 scores over fifty across ODI and T20I cricket, Porterfield was a pillar at the top of the order for Ireland, scoring close to 10,000 runs internationally across all competitions, from various World Cricket League competitions to global tournaments and eventually in whites, when his side were awarded Full Member status.

Appointed captain in 2008 and leading his team over 250 times in a rich period for the team, Porterfield led Ireland in their maiden Test match, and the Lord's Test match against England, before handing the reins to Andrew Balbirnie.

Porterfield was Irish captain at two Cricket World Cup campaigns and five T20 World Cups, at the helm notably in their shock victory over England in Bangalore in the 2011 50-over tournament.

Since relinquishing the captaincy, Porterfield remained a member of the Ireland ODI outfit, recently making half-centuries against South Africa and Zimbabwe in the side's Super League campaign last year.

"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. I have to say, though, it's a little surreal at the moment having made the decision to step away and retire, but I've been fortunate to play since 2006 and it's been an incredible journey," said Porterfield, while reflecting on his journey.

"During my career, we've gone from an amateur team right through to now being a Test nation. From those before me, and along my journey, we have hopefully built an infrastructure that will allow the game in Ireland to continue to flourish. All I ever wanted to do was leave the shirt in a better place and leave the team in a better place, and hopefully I've played a part in doing that," he added.

Porterfield will now put his energy into coaching, having already worked with Gloucestershire and Warwickshire in county cricket.