Boyd Rankin, born on July 5 1984 in County Londonerry, hails from a farming family that clearly loves its cricket. His two brothers, Robert and David have represented Ireland in Under-19 cricket, while, his sister too played representative cricket. Interestingly, Rankin started out as a rugby player, occupying the all important Number 8 position for Strabane Grammar School team. Rankin's brute strength and steepling height saw him make waves in the rugby world.

However, cricket was his first love, prompting him to forsake a potential rugby career. Having modelled his action on the likes of Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose, Boyd Rankin fine-tuned himself into a 'hit the deck bowler'. The biggest USP of Boyd Rankin is his special ability to catch batsmen off guard with disconcerting bounce and lateral movement.

By 15, Rankin was playing for his first team at Bready, the local club, and he went on to represent Ireland at every age group from U-13 onwards. Rankin's glittering performances for the Ireland-A side evoked a slew of county offers. With a few fellow Irish team-mates and friends, Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan plying their trade for Middlesex, it was a no brainer that Rankin plunged into the same club as well.

The strapping fast bowler shot to the limelight in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, claiming 12 scalps to spur Ireland through to the Super 8 stages after a giant-killing effort against Pakistan. His energetic bowling in the World Cup enabled him to gatecrash into Derbyshire, where a side strain ruled him out of action as soon as he joined.

A turning point in his career ensued when he signed a two year contract with Warwickshire. A fiery bowling coach in the form of Allan Donald took him under his wing and galvanized him to fulfill his potential.

Rankin's 15 wickets from 9 games for Ireland in the 2009 ICC World Cup qualifier catapulted Ireland into the main-event. It is noteworthy that Rankin was one of the seven Irish players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate player of the Year, despite not making the final 4-man shortlist. 'Boydo' marked his England Lions debut against Sri Lanka A and was picked for the England performance program later that same year.

Following 37 ODIs and 15 T20Is, Rankin dropped a bombshell, announcing to quit Ireland duty to train all his focus on playing cricket at the highest level. He debuted for England against New Zealand in a T20 clash in 2013, wherein he took a wicket for 24 runs. His England ODI debut soon followed suit, ironically, against his former country Ireland in Dublin, where the lanky 6 feet 7 inches tall pacer, held his nerve amidst unrelenting pressure to claim 4-49 and with it stake claim for a long tenancy in the English fast bowling department.

Rankin was part of England's 17-member squad for the 2013-14 Ashes Down Under and was thought be a main threat for Australia as the pitches would suit his height to extract some spice. However, the England management were reluctant to play him until the Sydney Test and Rankin made his Test debut after England had dropped all their weapons and were drubbed again in the final Test. The fast bowler battled a bad back and nerves to come up with a poor performance. His ODI bargains were also thrown under the carpet and the inevitable was around the corner.

But then the tryst ended soon with the Three Lions and he was back in the Irish fold post 2015. One Ashes Test, seven ODIs and 2 T20Is is what he managed for England. He played his last ODI in 2014 and returned in 2016 playing for Ireland. Ever since his return he has played in 13 ODIs for Ireland and has managed 27 wickets, which includes 3 four-wicket hauls. Even in the World Cup qualifiers, Boyd was at his best but sadly could not help his side to qualify for the World Cup in 2019.

But after ICC announced that Ireland will be eligible to play Test cricket, Boyd will become the third international cricketer to play Test cricket for two countries. Kepler Wessels (Australia, South Africa) and John Tracois (South Africa, Zimbabwe) are the others to do so.

By Kumar Abhisekh Das
As of May 2018