Paul Stirling: Opener appointed Ireland ODI and T20 captain
- Published
Paul Stirling (left) takes over the white-ball captaincy role on a permanent basis from fellow Irish batter Andrew Balbirnie
Ireland opener Paul Stirling has been named captain of the men's ODI and T20 teams after carrying out the role on an interim basis.
The 33-year-old was appointed temporary skipper in July following Andrew Balbirnie's resignation as captain of the white-ball sides.
"It's an honour and privilege to get this role and be offered it in the first place," said Stirling.
"I'm delighted to accept it and take on what will be a great challenge."
Balbirnie, who remains Test captain, stepped down in the wake of Ireland's failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Former Middlesex player Stirling has chalked up 5,623 runs in 156 ODI matches and 3,408 runs from 131 T20 games since making his Ireland debut in 2008.
Stirling won the Ireland player of the decade award in 2021 and globally he was the highest run-scorer in ODIs in the same year with 705 runs at an impressive average of 54.23.
Paul Stirling has played 363 games for Ireland since his debut 15 years ago
The right-hander, who selected international cricket over the county game in 2019, has played in two World Cups and his passion for the 50-over game played a part in accepting the captaincy role.
He added: "I absolutely love the format and I think it's the pinnacle of international cricket - that's one of the main reasons I've accepted the role of captain.
"It's a real motivator for me and I think it's the reason I came back from county cricket to Ireland in the first place, to play in 50-over World Cups as I believe they are the top of our game and we need to be there.
"I think we're in a great position where we've got a good balance - there's a lot of youth coming up with a lot of talent and there's also a huge amount of caps under our belt.
"It's going to be a pretty pragmatic approach and we want to entertain first and foremost. We want to make the supporters proud and everyone who follows Irish cricket proud.
"We're going to be underdogs for lots of our matches. So we have to make sure that even if we are losing games, we're losing them in the right way where we're building on performances and getting better each week."