While others - the likes of Morgan and Joyce and Rankin - have flirted with England, William Porterfield has remained an almost ever-present figure in Ireland's rise in international cricket. His country's top run-scorer in both ODI and T20I cricket, he is also set to be their first Test captain.

While progress has not always been smooth - Porterfield was out to the first ball of both Ireland's World T20 matches in Sri Lanka in 2012 - his time in the side has coincided with some of the country's greatest achievements: the victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh that took Ireland to the Super Eight's of the 2007 World Cup; qualification for the World T20 of 2009; victory over England in the World Cup of 2011 and consistent success in the Intercontinental Cup, which Ireland won in 2008 and 2013.

Porterfield, a left-handed top-order batsman and outstanding fielder in the cordon, captained Ireland at every level from U13 upwards. Scoring a century in just his fourth ODI - against Bermuda - he followed it with another in the next game against Kenya and averaged 110 in the World Cricket League. He then contributed a crucial 85 in the 2007 World Cup win over Bangladesh and scored further centuries against Scotland, Bangladesh and England as Ireland continued to press for Full Membership of the ICC. He has led the senior side in both white-ball formats since 2008.

He was signed by Gloucestershire on the back of his 2007 World Cup performances but left to join Warwickshire at the end of the 2010 season. While his form for Warwickshire was modest - it took four years to register his first Championship century for the club and, going into the 2015 season, his first-class for the side remains below 30 - he was a valuable member of the side that won the County Championship in 2012, the NatWest T20 Blast in 2014 and reached the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup that same season.

While his county form declined and he was released by Warwickshire at the end of the 2017 season, he has continued to open the batting for Ireland.
George Dobell