Ten years after leading his national side across all formats, William Porterfield decided to step down from Ireland’s T20I captaincy to concentrate on leadership in Test and ODI. Gary Wilson has been named as new T20I skipper for the team.

“It has been a huge honor to captain my country across all formats for the past 10 years, and I have been fortunate enough to captain Ireland at the last five World Twenty20s,” Porterfield said.

“With the qualifiers only a year or so away, I feel that now is the right time for me and the team for a fresh voice and leader in this format.

“I will now focus solely on my batting in a format that I love playing. I would like to thank everyone for their support over the past 10 years and indeed in making this decision. Finally I would like to wish Gary all the best in what is an exciting time for him.”

Wilson’s first assignment as the T20I captain will be a tri-series in the Netherlands, which involves Scotland alongside the hosts. The T20 tournament is scheduled to start on June 12.

“I am absolutely honored to be asked to undertake this role,” Wilson said. “With 16 months until the qualifying tournament for next World T20 tournament in Australia, I believe this is a timely opportunity to prepare the squad for an important new phase in Irish cricket.

“I hope my experience and leadership in this form of the game will be of benefit in developing the next generation of leaders and am looking forward to the first step in this journey - the Tri-Series in the Netherlands.”