Ed Joyce calls time on playing career
Ed Joyce has brought the curtain down on his international career on Thursday (May24). He played a total of 78 ODIs and 18 T20Is and was the first player to play for two countries in T20Is. The only Test the Irish batsman played is the recently-concluded inaugural Test of Ireland.
In 2011, the ICC gave the left-handed batsman special dispensation to play for Ireland in the ICC World Cup. He represented England in the ICC World Cup in 2007 and was part of the Ireland team in the tournament in 2011 and 2015.
The southpaw will now work as a batting coach and will be working on leadership development in Irish performance system. He expressed his gratitude to Cricket Ireland for allowing a him to be a part of the coaching set-up.
“I feel now is the right time to stop playing and get started on a new chapter. The recent Test match against Pakistan was such an incredible few days and was the perfect game for me to say was my last in professional cricket,” Joyce reportedly said. “I am very grateful to Cricket Ireland for giving me the opportunity to get involved in the coaching set-up. I know I have a huge amount to learn about the art of coaching, but I know I also have a huge amount of knowledge that I'm determined to pass on to the next generation of Irish talent.”
Ed Joyce has played for clubs like Sussex and Middlesex in County Cricket. He has amassed 8,278 runs in 118 first-class county matches at an average of 46.76. He made his Middlesex debut in 2000, seven years before his maiden international game for Ieland.
“County Cricket has been such a huge part of my life for the last 16 years and I firmly believe there was no better place for me to learn about the game. I was lucky to have played for two of the best in Middlesex and Sussex and I cherish the friendships I made and trophies I won over this period.
“One of the challenges Irish cricket faces now is that we can no longer use county cricket as a finishing school for our youngsters. We need to produce our own cricketers through our domestic structure and I'm excited to be a part of that journey.”
The 39-year-old is excited to be a part of the “coaching talent”.
He said, “We have always had cricketing talent in this country. Our job now is to develop that talent so that it is ready for the highest stage. The continued development of our club game, inter-provincial competitions, and Wolves program are critical to this as is the development of world-class training facilities.
“If we get all of these areas right over the next few years, there's no reason why we can't keep making waves on the world stage. We're also very fortunate to have some excellent coaches at all levels. Graham Ford, Rob Cassell, and Ben Smith have been fantastic with the Men's side over the last nine months, as has Aaron Hamilton with our senior women over a number of years, but there is also a lot of coaching talent at all levels here now, and I'm excited to now be a part of it.”
