William Porterfield’s record-breaking 2007 has been rewarded with the vice-captaincy of the Ireland squad. The 23 year old Donemana-born opening batsman, who has captained every Ireland team from Under 13 to Under 23 level, has made the natural progression and succeeds Kyle McCallan in the role for next month’s games in the UAE and Bangladesh.

Porterfield, who is also a full-time county professional for the first time this year with Gloucestershire, became the first player to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year and with more matches than ever in 2008 he has been given the boost to better his own record and is seen as the long-term successor to Trent Johnston.

“I think it will happen and so do other people,“ said National Coach Phil Simmons. “Porty still has the two senior players in the team who he can learn from and that’s the way I see the captaincy going forward.”

McCallan, who will play his 173rd game for Ireland, in the Inter-Continental Cup game in Abu Dhabi, starting on March 6, remains a key member of the squad which includes three other county professionals and three uncapped players.

Paul Stirling, the Cliftonville batsman currently with the Under 19s preparing for the World Cup finals in Malaysia, celebrated his call-up with 72 out of 98 in Ireland’s heavy defeat to New Zealand yesterday and he is joined by Strabane pace bowler Phil Eaglestone and North County all-rounder Reinhardt Strydom.

Eaglestone is presently in Chennai at the Dennis Lillee Cricket Academy where he is getting expert coaching from the Australia fast bowling legend and once Simmons had suggested the 25 year old left armer for a place in the Academy, a call-up to the senior squad was never going to be far away.

Like Eaglestone, Strydom also impressed in last year’s Ireland A games and his 82 against MCC in the three-day game against MCC at Malahide in August plus some good winter net sessions has forced his way into contention for a first cap.

The core of the team, however, will be county regulars, Middlesex’s Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien, both certain to bat in the top four with Porterfield and Andre Botha while Warwickshire’s new signing Boyd Rankin will be hoping to build on his impressive World Cup campaign, where he was Ireland’s leading bowler with 12 wickets. He hasn’t played for his country since.

Clontarf all-rounder Alex Cusack will be another certain starter while the spin bowling support to McCallan will be a choice between his Waringstown slow left arm team-mate Gary Kidd and Lisburn leg spinner Greg Thompson who is captaining the Under 19s in Kuala Lumpur.

The three capped players missing from the 22-man winter training squad are the injured Jeremy Bray, unavailable Andrew White and Surrey contracted wicket-keeper batsman Gary Wilson.

Simmons said there were not enough games to bring a specialist reserve keeper. “It is not a long enough tour and Porterfield, Morgan and Stirling can all keep wicket in an emergency,“ he said.

Although still studying for his A/S exams at school, Simmons does not consider Stirling’s selection as a surprise.

“In two or three years time, Stirling will be a major player in the Ireland team and just being around the guys at this stage in his career will help his game,” said the coach.

On the other newcomers in the squad, Simmons added: “Apart from Rankin there is no other speedster in the squad so Phil Eaglestone gives us that option and as a left arm quick offers us something different. Strydom did well in the Ireland A games last year and this is the next move upwards.”