William Boyd Rankin was born on 5 July 1984 and is a Northern Irish former cricketer who played international cricket for Ireland, and briefly played for England.
37 Facts About Boyd Rankin
1.
2.
Boyd Rankin is the brother of fellow cricketer David Rankin.
3.
Boyd Rankin revealed in an interview that his action is modelled on bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath who "hit the deck from just back of a length outside off stump".
4.
Boyd Rankin studied agriculture at Harper Adams University College in Shropshire, during which time he worked on his batting technique.
5.
Boyd Rankin has subsequently represented Ireland in both 20 and 50-over formats.
6.
Boyd Rankin was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Ireland's first ever Test match, against Pakistan, in May 2018.
7.
On 21 May 2021, Boyd Rankin announced his retirement from international and inter-provincial cricket.
8.
Boyd Rankin explained his choice as a difficult one, but the opportunity of working with Allan Donald was too good to miss.
9.
Boyd Rankin was contracted to play in the controversial Indian Cricket League for the Kolkata Tigers; fellow Irishman, Niall O'Brien participated in the tournament.
10.
Boyd Rankin jeopardised his season when in April 2008 he injured himself during fielding practice before a County Championship match against Worcestershire.
11.
Boyd Rankin dived to stop a ball and landed awkwardly on his shoulder, suffering a SLAP tear to his right shoulder.
12.
Boyd Rankin underwent an operation and was expected to be on the sidelines for about six months.
13.
In 2009 Boyd Rankin impressed Ashley Giles, Warwickshire's director of cricket, with his bowling.
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Boyd Rankin has represented Ireland at every age group from U-13 upwards, and by the age of 15 he was playing first team cricket for Bready, his local club.
15.
Boyd Rankin played three youth One Day Internationals for Ireland, finishing with two wickets at an average of 52.00.
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Boyd Rankin had a successful World Cup in the Caribbean, and finished as Ireland's leading wicket taker of the tournament, with 12 wickets in his 9 matches at an average of 27 at a strike rate of 29.67.
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Boyd Rankin played in the first two ODIs in the three match series against Kenya before returning to Warwickshire.
18.
Boyd Rankin was part of the Ireland squad that took part in the tri-series against Kenya and Zimbabwe in October 2008.
19.
Ireland did not qualify for the final of the tournament because they had a lower run-rate than Kenya; Boyd Rankin played in both of Ireland's ODI and took two wickets at an average of 41.50.
20.
Boyd Rankin made his Twenty20 International debut on 8 June 2009.
21.
Boyd Rankin was one of seven Ireland players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year, although he did not make the 4-man short-list.
22.
In January 2010, Boyd Rankin sustained a stress fracture to his right foot which forced him to miss Ireland's tour of Sri Lanka.
23.
Boyd Rankin recovered from injury in time to be selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup.
24.
On 16 August, Rankin represented the England Lions against Sri Lanka A A side made up of some of the best players from Associate and Affiliate teams was put together to face England in Dubai in January 2012.
25.
Boyd Rankin was one of four Ireland players included in the 12-man squad.
26.
Boyd Rankin debuted for England against New Zealand in a T20 match on 25 June 2013.
27.
Subsequent opportunities proved elusive and Boyd Rankin confirmed at the end of 2015 that he would make himself available for the Irish national team.
28.
In February 2016 Boyd Rankin returned to the Ireland T20 team for a two-match series against the United Arab Emirates.
29.
In June 2016 Boyd Rankin was welcomed back to Ireland's ODI team for two matches against Sri Lanka.
30.
Boyd Rankin made his Test debut for Ireland, against Pakistan, on 11 May 2018.
31.
Boyd Rankin took Ireland's first wicket in Tests, dismissing Pakistan's Azhar Ali, who was caught by William Porterfield at second slip.
32.
In May 2019, in Ireland's last match of their ODI tri-series, Boyd Rankin took his 200th wicket in international cricket.
33.
In July 2019, Boyd Rankin was named in Ireland's Test squad for their one-off match against England at Lord's.
34.
Boyd Rankin got two wickets bagging the wickets of Sam Curran caught by James McCollum and Stuart Broad caught by Gary Wilson as England slumped to 85 all out on the first day of the test match.
35.
In January 2020, in the first ODI match against the West Indies, Boyd Rankin played in his 150th international match for Ireland.
36.
On 10 July 2020, Boyd Rankin was named in Ireland's 21-man squad to travel to England to start training behind closed doors for the ODI series against the England cricket team.
37.
On 21 May 2021, Boyd Rankin announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.