Pace Bowler Boyd Rankin, Who Played For England & Ireland, Retires

Cricket Image for Pace Bowler Boyd Rankin, Who Played For England & Ireland, Retires (Boyd Rankin (Image Source: Google))

Pace bowler Boyd Rankin, who represented Ireland and England and was one of only 15 players to represent two countries in Test cricket, retired from international cricket on Friday.

The 36-year-old, who played two World Cups for Ireland and an Ashes Test for England, played three Tests, 75 ODIs and 50 T20Is in a career spanning 18 years.

Rankin made his international debut for Ireland in 2003 at the age of 19. He played 153 times for his country between 2003 and 2020 in two stints separated by a three-year period in which he represented England.

The 6'8" tall Rankin got called up for the 2013-14 Ashes tour of Australia. He also represented England in seven ODIs and two T20Is. He returned to Ireland in time to play in their maiden Test, against Pakistan at Malahide in 2018, claiming their first Test wicket in the same match. Rankin was also part of the Ireland team that made a mark in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, which paved the way for their Test status in 2017.

Rankin claimed 229 international wickets at 23.39 apiece for Ireland, finishing his career as the eighth highest Irish wicket-taker at the international level. His two most productive wicket-taking seasons were 2018 and 2019 with 30 and 47 wickets respectively, according to cricketireland.ie.