Irish cricketer
Andrew Balbirnie
(born 28 December 1990) is an Irish
cricketer
, the current captain of the
Ireland cricket team
in Test cricket. Balbirnie is a right-handed
batsman
and an occasional
wicket-keeper
. He was born in
Dublin
and was educated at
St. Andrew's College
.
[1]
He was one of the 11 cricketers to play in Ireland's first ever
Test match
, against
Pakistan
, in May 2018. In December 2018, he was one of 19 players to be awarded a central contract by
Cricket Ireland
for the 2019 season.
[2]
[3]
In November 2019, Balbirnie was named as the captain of Ireland's
Test
and
ODI
team, after
William Porterfield
stepped down.
[4]
[5]
Later the same month, he was also named as the captain of Ireland's
Twenty20 International
(T20I) team, replacing
Gary Wilson
.
[6]
In January 2020, he was one of 19 players to be awarded a central contract from
Cricket Ireland
,
[7]
the first year in which all contracts were awarded on a full-time basis.
[8]
Early and domestic career
[
edit
]
Balbirnie has represented
Ireland at U-19 level
, playing nine Youth One Day Internationals.
[9]
In 2009, he captained Ireland's
Under-19 World Cup Qualifier
winning squad. Victory in the tournament allowed Ireland Under-19's to take part in the
2010 U-19 Cricket World Cup
.
On 15 August 2017, Balbirnie scored his maiden
first-class
century, when Ireland played the Netherlands in the
2015?17 ICC Intercontinental Cup
.
[10]
Balbirnie was the leading run-scorer in the
2018 Inter-Provincial Trophy
tournament, with 262 runs in six matches.
[11]
He was also the leading run-scorer for
Leinster Lightning
in the
2018 Inter-Provincial Championship
, with 302 runs in four matches.
[12]
In July 2019, Balbirnie was selected to play for the Dublin Chiefs in the
inaugural edition
of the
Euro T20 Slam
cricket tournament.
[13]
[14]
However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.
[15]
International career
[
edit
]
Balbirnie was a member of Ireland's
2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One
winning team. During the tournament, he made his
List A
debut for
Ireland
, in what was also his debut
One Day International
which came against
Scotland
. He played three further One Day Internationals during the tournament.
[16]
In January 2015, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's 15 man squad for the
2015 Cricket World Cup
.
[17]
[18]
[19]
Balbirnie made his
Twenty20 International
debut
against Scotland
on 19 June 2015, although no play was possible due to rain.
[20]
In February 2016, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's 15 man squad for the
2016 T20 World Cup
.
[21]
[22]
Balbirnie was part of the
Ireland A team
which toured Bangladesh in October 2017 to play one
first-class match
and five
limited overs matches
against the
Bangladesh A team
.
[23]
In May 2018, Balbirnie was named in a 14-man squad for Ireland's first ever
Test match
, which was played
against Pakistan
later the same month.
[24]
[25]
He made his Test debut for Ireland, against Pakistan, on 11 May 2018.
[26]
[27]
He was dismissed for a
pair
,
[28]
therefore becoming the forty-fourth batsman, and first for Ireland, to get a
pair on debut in Test cricket
.
[29]
[30]
In January 2019, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's squad for their one-off Test
against Afghanistan
in
Dehradun
, India.
[31]
[32]
In May 2019, in the opening match of the
2019 Ireland Tri-Nation Series
against the West Indies, Balbirnie played in his 100th international match for Ireland.
[33]
In September 2019, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's squad for the
2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier
tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
[34]
In November 2019, Balbirnie was named as Ireland's all formats captain.
[35]
[36]
On 10 July 2020, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's 21-man squad to travel to England to start training
behind closed doors
for the ODI series
against the England cricket team
.
[37]
[38]
In the third and final match of the series, which Ireland won by seven wickets, Balbirnie scored his 2,000th run in ODI cricket.
[39]
On 13 July 2021, Balbirnie led Ireland to their first ever ODI victory
against South Africa
.
[40]
[41]
He also made his seventh ODI century in the match, scoring 102 off 117 deliveries before getting dismissed by
Kagiso Rabada
.
[42]
[43]
[44]
In September 2021, Balbirnie was named the captain of Ireland's provisional squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
.
[45]
On 26 October 2022, Balbirnie scored a T20I half-century, scoring 62 off 47 deliveries to lead Ireland to a victory over England in the
2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
.
[46]
On 4 July 2023, Balbirnie has stepped down from his captaincy in limited-overs cricket, after Ireland failed to qualify for the
2023 World Cup
.
[47]
In March 2024, Balbirnie led Ireland to its first win in Test cricket,
against Afghanistan
in
Abu Dhabi
, scoring an unbeaten half-century in the fourth innings.
[48]
In May 2024, he was named in Ireland’s squad for the
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
tournament.
[49]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Player profile: Andrew Balbirnie"
. CricketArchive
. Retrieved
1 January
2012
.
- ^
"19 men's central player contracts finalised ahead of busy 2019"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 19 December 2018
. Retrieved
18 December
2018
.
- ^
"Ireland women to receive first professional contracts"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
18 December
2018
.
- ^
"Will Porterfield steps down as Ireland captain, Andrew Balbirnie named as replacement"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
8 November
2019
.
- ^
"Andrew Balbirnie Named Ireland Test And ODI Captain | Wisden Cricket"
.
Wisden
. 8 November 2019
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Gary Wilson replaced by Andy Balbirnie as Ireland's T20I captain"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
29 November
2019
.
- ^
"Gareth Delany, Shane Getkate amongst 19 men's central player contracts offered ahead of a busy 2020"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
9 January
2020
.
- ^
"Delany, Getkate highlight Ireland men's central contracts list for 2020"
.
International Cricket Council
. Retrieved
9 January
2020
.
- ^
"Youth One-Day International Matches played by Andrew Balbirnie"
. CricketArchive. Archived from
the original
on 4 November 2012
. Retrieved
1 January
2012
.
- ^
"Balbirnie ton puts Ireland in command"
. International Cricket Council. 15 August 2017
. Retrieved
15 August
2017
.
- ^
"Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy, 2018: Most runs"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
8 July
2018
.
- ^
"Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Championship, 2018 - Leinster Lightning: Batting and bowling averages"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
6 September
2018
.
- ^
"Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
19 July
2019
.
- ^
"Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed"
.
Cricket Europe
. Archived from
the original
on 19 July 2019
. Retrieved
19 July
2019
.
- ^
"Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
14 August
2019
.
- ^
"One-Day International Matches played by Andrew Balbirnie"
. CricketArchive. Archived from
the original
on 4 November 2012
. Retrieved
1 January
2012
.
- ^
"Ireland Squad - Ireland Squad - ICC Cricket World Cup, 2015 Squad"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"World Cup 2015 squads"
.
BBC Sport
. 5 December 2014
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
Post, Irish.
"Ireland name 2015 Cricket World Cup squad"
.
The Irish Post
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Scotland tour of Ireland, 2nd T20I: Ireland v Scotland at Bready, Jun 19, 2015"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
19 June
2015
.
- ^
"Ireland Squad - Ireland Squad - World T20, 2016 Squad"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Porterfield to lead experienced Ireland squad for World T20"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Ireland 'A' tour of Bangladesh"
.
Cricbuzz
. Retrieved
1 October
2017
.
- ^
"Ireland announce 14-man squad for historic first Test against Pakistan"
.
Belfast Telegraph
.
ISSN
0307-1235
. Retrieved
4 May
2018
.
- ^
"Ireland omit George Dockrell for historic first men's Test against Pakistan"
.
BBC Sport
. Retrieved
4 May
2018
.
- ^
"Only Test, Pakistan tour of Ireland, England and Scotland at Dublin, May 11-15 2018"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
12 May
2018
.
- ^
"Ireland win toss, opt to bowl in historic Test against Pakistan"
.
Geo TV
. Retrieved
12 May
2018
.
- ^
"Brave Ireland battling to keep their Test debut alive against Pakistan"
.
Belfast Telegraph
. 14 May 2018
. Retrieved
14 May
2018
.
- ^
"Amir's double strike disrupts Ireland's revival"
.
CricBuzz
. 14 May 2018
. Retrieved
14 May
2018
.
- ^
"Statistics, Statsguru: Test Matches, Batting Records"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
14 May
2018
.
- ^
"Ireland announce squads for Afghanistan series"
.
International Cricket Council
. Retrieved
28 January
2019
.
- ^
"Stirling to captain Ireland T20 squad, new faces named for forthcoming Oman and Afghanistan series"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 29 January 2019
. Retrieved
28 January
2019
.
- ^
"West Indian openers break records in win over Ireland"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 5 May 2019
. Retrieved
5 May
2019
.
- ^
"Squad announced for Oman Series and ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2019
. Retrieved
26 September
2019
.
- ^
"Andrew Balbirnie Named Ireland Test And ODI Captain | Wisden Cricket"
.
Wisden
. 8 November 2019
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Gary Wilson replaced by Andy Balbirnie as Ireland's T20I captain"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Curtis Campher, Jonathan Garth the new faces as Ireland name 21-man squad for England ODIs"
.
ESPN Cricinfo
. Retrieved
10 July
2020
.
- ^
"Ireland names expanded training squad ahead of ODI series against England"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
10 July
2020
.
- ^
"Stirling-Balbirnie partnership gets Ireland off the mark in CWC Super League"
.
International Cricket Council
. Retrieved
5 August
2020
.
- ^
"Balbirnie leads Ireland to first ever win over South Africa"
.
The Daily Star
. 14 July 2021
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Brilliant Andy Balbirnie leads Ireland to first-ever win over South Africa | Cricket News - Times of India"
.
The Times of India
. 14 July 2021
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Full Scorecard of Ireland vs South Africa 2nd ODI 2021 - Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Andy Balbirnie century sets up Ireland's upset against South Africa"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Balbirnie ton powers Ireland to first ever ODI win over South Africa"
.
www.icc-cricket.com
. Retrieved
15 July
2021
.
- ^
"Ireland names 18-player provisional squad for T20 World Cup"
.
Cricket Ireland
. Archived from
the original
on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
9 September
2021
.
- ^
"Ireland stun England in rainy Melbourne"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. 26 October 2022
. Retrieved
26 October
2022
.
- ^
"Balbirnie steps down as Ireland ODI and T20I captain"
.
ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
5 July
2023
.
- ^
"Ireland celebrate first ever Test win"
.
cricket.com.au
. Retrieved
2 March
2024
.
- ^
"Ireland's 15-Player Squad for ICC Men's T20I World Cup"
.
ScoreWaves
. Retrieved
11 June
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]