Andy Balbirnie is an Irish international cricketer and the former captain of the national side in all formats of the game. He was born on 28 December 1990 in Dublin, Ireland, and is a right-handed opening batter. Balbirnie was educated at St. Andrew’s College and was one of the 11 cricketers to play in Ireland's first-ever Test match, against Pakistan, in May 2018. In January 2020, he was one of 19 players to be awarded a central contract from Cricket Ireland, the first year in which all contracts were awarded on a full-time basis, and currently plays for Leinster Lightning in Irish domestic cricket.
Balbirnie has represented Ireland at the U-19 level, playing nine Youth One Day Internationals. In 2009, he captained Ireland's Under-19 World Cup Qualifier-winning squad. Victory in the tournament allowed Ireland Under-19 to take part in the 2010 U-19 Cricket World Cup. On 15 August 2017, Balbirnie scored his maiden first-class century, when Ireland played the Netherlands in the 2015-17 ICC Intercontinental Cup. Balbirnie was the leading run-scorer in the 2018 Inter-Provincial Trophy tournament, with 262 runs in six matches. He was also the leading run-scorer for Leinster Lightning in the 2018 Inter-Provincial Championship, with 302 runs in four matches.
Balbirnie was a member of Ireland's 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One winning team. During the tournament, he made his List A debut for Ireland, in what was also his debut ODI which came against Scotland on the 5th of July. He played three further One Day Internationals during the tournament. In January 2015, Balbirnie was named in Ireland’s 15-man squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Balbirnie made his T20I debut against Scotland on 19 June 2015, although no play was possible due to rain. In February 2016, Balbirnie was named in Ireland’s 15-man squad for the 2016 T20 World Cup.
In May 2018, Balbirnie was named in a 14-man squad for Ireland's first-ever Test match, which was played against Pakistan later the same month. He made his Test debut for Ireland, against Pakistan, on 11 May 2018. He was dismissed for a pair, therefore becoming the forty-fourth batsman, and first for Ireland, to get a pair on debut in Test cricket. In January 2019, Balbirnie was named in Ireland's squad for their one-off Test against Afghanistan in Dehradun, India. In May 2019, in the opening match of the 2019 Ireland Tri-Nation Series against the West Indies, Balbirnie played in his 100th international match for Ireland.
In November 2019, Balbirnie was named as Ireland’s captain in all formats of the game. On 10 July 2020, Balbirnie 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. In the third and final match of the series, which Ireland won by seven wickets, Balbirnie scored his 2,000th run in ODI cricket. On 13 July 2021, Balbirnie led Ireland to their first-ever ODI victory against South Africa. He also made his seventh ODI century in the match, scoring 102 off 117 deliveries before getting dismissed by Kagiso Rabada. In September 2021, Balbirnie was named the captain of Ireland's provisional squad for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. On 26 October 2022, Balbirnie scored a T20I half-century, scoring 62 off 47 deliveries to lead Ireland to a victory over England in the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
