List of Ireland cricket captains

This is a list of all cricketers who have captained Ireland in an official international match. This includes the ICC Trophy, Under-19 games and One Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals. The tables are correct as of the February 2012.

Men's cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the Ireland cricket team for at least one Test match.

A cricketer who has a symbol of next to a Test match series describes their role as captain and their participation in at least one game for the team.

Ireland Test match captains ^[1]

No.	Name	Year	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	William Porterfield	2018	Pakistan	Ireland	1	0	1	0
		2018–19	Afghanistan	India	1	0	1	0
		2019	England	England	1	0	1	0
		Total			3	0	3	0
2	Andrew Balbirnie	2022-23	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	1	0	1	0
		2023	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	2	0
		2023	England	England	1	0	1	0
		2024	Afghanistan	UAE	1	1	0	0
		Zimbabwe in Ireland in 2024	Zimbabwe	Ireland	1	1	0	0
		Ireland in Zimbabwe in 2025	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0
		Total			7	3	4	0
Grand total [2]					10	3	7	0

One Day International captains

In 2006, all-rounder Trent Johnston became Ireland's first ODI captain. ^[3] He stepped down as captain in early 2008 and took a break from cricket as he was struggling with injury problems. ^[4] William Porterfield succeeded Johnston as Ireland's full-time captain in April 2008. ^[5] On occasions when Porterfield had been unavailable, sometimes due to commitments with his county side, Kyle McCallan had filled the role of captain. ^[6] Andrew Balbirnie stood down from the White Ball cricket captain, continuing as Ireland's Test Captain, ^[7] and Paul Stirling ^[8] was named captain on 31st October 2023. The table of results is complete up to the West Indies tour in 2025.

Ireland ODI Captains ^[9]

No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	Trent Johnston	2006–2010	32	14	1	15	2
2	Kyle McCallan	2007–2008	4	0	0	4	0
3	William Porterfield	2008-2019	113	50	2	55	6
4	Kevin O'Brien	2010–2014	4	3	0	1	0
5	Andrew Balbirnie	2020–2023	30	5	0	21	4
6	Paul Stirling	2022–Present	21	9	0	9	3
Overall [10]			192	81	3	105	15
Last Updated: 12 September 2025

Twenty20 International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the Ireland cricket team for at least one Twenty20 International. Paul Stirling captained Ireland in 2019 before taking over the role full time in 2023. Stats below include his 2019 stats ^[8] The table of results is complete up to the West Indies tour in 2025.

Ireland T20I captains ^[11]

No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	William Porterfield	2008–2017	56	26	0	26	4
2	Kevin O'Brien	2015	4	0	0	2	2
3	Gary Wilson	2016-2019	26	12	1	13	0
4	Andrew Balbirnie	2020–2023	52	19	1	31	1
5	Paul Stirling	2019-Present	40	15	0	20	5
Overall [12]			147	60	2	78	7
Last updated: 12 September 2025

ICC Trophy/ICC World Cup Qualifier

Ireland debuted in the ICC Trophy in the 1993/94 tournament.

Player [13]	Dates of captaincy	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	No result	% win [A]
Alan Lewis	1993/94	7	3	4	0	0	42.86
Justin Benson	1996/97	10	6	3	0	1	66.66
Kyle McCallan	2001–2005	9	4	5	0	0	44.44
Dekker Curry	2005	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
Jason Molins	2005	5	5	0	0	0	100.00
William Porterfield	2009	10	8	2	0	0	80.00
Total	1993/94–2005	32	18	13	0	1	58.06

Women's cricket

Test match captains

Ireland had played one Test in 2000 against Pakistan at Dublin.

Ireland Women's Test Captain
No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	Miriam Grealey	2000	1	1	0	0	0
Overall			1	1	0	0	0

Women's One Day International captains

Ireland Women's ODI Captains
No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	Mary-Pat Moore	1987–1993	21	5	0	16	0
2	Sonia Reamsbottom	1989–1990	1	0	0	1	0
3	Elizabeth Owens	1988	9	3	0	6	0
4	Miriam Grealey	1995–2000	33	11	0	21	1
5	Nikki Squire	2001	6	3	0	3	0
6	Anne Linehan	2002	5	0	0	4	1
7	Clare Shillington	2003–2011	15	5	0	9	1
8	Heather Whelan	2003–2011	15	7	0	8	0
9	Isobel Joyce	2008–present	17	2	0	14	1
10	Ciara Metcalfe	2010–2011	7	2	0	4	1
11	Mary Waldron	2013	1	0	0	1	0
Overall			130	38	0	87	5

Women's Twenty20 International captains

Ireland Women's T20I Captains
No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	Isobel Joyce	2008–present	21	4	0	17	0
8	Heather Whelan	2009	4	2	0	2	0
10	Ciara Metcalfe	2010–2011	4	1	0	3	0
11	Cecelia Joyce	2012	1	0	0	1	0
Overall			30	7	0	23	0

Youth cricket

Youth One-Day International captains

Ireland T20I Captains
No.	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	NR
1	Joseph Clinton	1998	5	1	0	4	0
2	Ed Joyce	1998	1	0	0	1	0
3	Peter Shields	1998	7	2	0	4	1
4	William Porterfield	2004	7	3	0	4	0
5	Eoin Morgan	2006	6	2	0	4	0
6	Greg Thompson	2008	6	2	0	4	0
7	Andrew Balbirnie	2010	5	2	0	3	0
8	George Dockrell	2012	6	2	0	4	0
Overall			43	14	1	28	0

Notes

^A Percentage is worked out by counting tied games as half a win and excluding no results from the equation.

References

1. "List of Ireland Test cricket captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
2. "Test Matches/ Team Records/ Result Summary". Cricinfo.
3. Cricinfo staff (7 June 2006), Ireland announce squad for England match, Cricinfo.com Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
4. Johnston takes a break from cricket, Cricinfo staff, 22 March 2008 Retrieved on 3 November 2008.
5. Porterfield takes charge, BBC Online, 23 April 2008 Retrieved on 30 May 2008.
6. Cricket Ireland (22 May 2008), Ireland hit by Porterfield withdrawal, Cricketeurope4.net Retrieved on 30 May 2008.
7. "Balbirnie steps down as Ireland ODI and T20I captain". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
8. "Paul Stirling appointed Ireland white-ball captain". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
9. "List of Ireland ODI cricket captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
10. Records / One-Day Internationals / Team Records / Result Summary, Cricinfo, retrieved 15 December 2018
11. "Ireland T20I Captains". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
12. "Records/ Twenty20 International/ Results Summary". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
13. Ireland Captains' Playing Record in the ICC Trophy, CricketArchive.com, archived from the original on 15 October 2012, retrieved 26 October 2017 Retrieved on 8 November 2008.

External links

• Cricinfo
• Ireland's ICC Trophy captains at Cricket Archive Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Ireland's Under-19's captains at Cricket Archive Archived 2013-11-09 at the Wayback Machine