LONDON: Boyd Rankin has given Ireland a major boost ahead of next year’s World Twenty20, by officially giving up on his hopes of adding to his solitary Test cap with England and has instead pledged his allegiance once again to the country of his birth.
Rankin, 31, met last week with Cricket Ireland to complete his return to the national team, for whom he made 82 international appearances between 2007 and 2012, including the last World Twenty20 in Bangladesh three years ago.
Rankin has been named in what is a full strength Ireland squad for the ICC InterContinental Cup clash with Papua New Guinea next month.
Cricket Ireland Head Coach John Bracewell feels that there is a nice blend of youth and experience in the squad and revealed that he had Rankin in his sights for a while.
“The return of Boyd Rankin gives William (Porterfield) plenty of options on the bowling front.
“We’ve been trying hard to get Boyd back into the fold and it’s given everyone an extra boost to have that wrapped up before Christmas.
“The batting has been solid in the matches we’ve played so far, with of course Ed Joyce getting those back-to-back double hundreds.
“There have been excellent partnerships which have let us build big totals and control games from the start.”
Bracewell has warned the players against taking the challenge of Papua New Guinea too lightly.
“We’re aware of just how quickly PNG have progressed in recent years, indeed beating The Netherlands in this competition.
“We’ll be getting to Australia a week ahead of the game and have lined up a three-day game to help us prepare.”
The Irish team currently tops the table with maximum points from convincing wins in the opening two rounds against the UAE and Namibia, putting themselves in a strong position in their quest for Test status.
Following the conclusion of the InterContinental Cup game, Ireland will stay in Townsville playing PNG three times to help prepare for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in India.
They will then travel to the UAE where they will play an additional three games en route home, two of which will be T20 Internationals, still to be announced by the hosts.
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