NOW that he’s blown the whistle on his rugby refereeing and is no longer the man in the middle, there’s nothing Brian Stirling likes better than watching his son Paul being the man in the middle – churning out the runs at the start of a highly-promising cricket career.

The brilliant batsman has already made his mark for Ireland in spite of being only 18, appearing in the recent World Twenty20 before officially finishing school.

Up until now, when he will take a gap year before resuming studies, Paul has had to juggle his academic and cricket commitments but Brian – Principal of Greenisland Primary School as well as a man who has been involved in international sport – is ideally placed to offer understanding and support.

Stirling senior realises that there are cricketing opportunities which must be taken but at the same time it isn’t a sport which makes millionaires in this part of the world so firm foundations need to be laid.

An English county career is Paul’s best bet for playing professionally and he will return to Middlesex this summer as and when Ireland duty permits.

In doing so he is following in the footsteps of fellow Irishmen Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan, who first went there as prodigious teenage talents – “they’ve paved the way” – and have since gone on to play for England, but unlike the latter, young Stirling isn’t talking Test cricket at an early age.

He’s happy to “take one day at a time” and, as we talked last Sunday morning on the back of his duck for Carrickfergus the previous day, Paul needed no reminding that cricket can be a funny old game. But he has made major strides again in 2009 and has time on his side.

Being left out of Ireland ’s squad for the World Cup qualifying tournament a few months ago has “made me hungrier this year” and he responded by putting several county attacks to the sword in the early-season Friends Provident Trophy matches.

Young Stirling showed fine form too in the warm-up games for the World T20 but was forced to bide his time for an opportunity in the tournament itself. When the chance came, he hit a quick-fire 17 off 16 balls against eventual winners Pakistan and certainly didn’t look out of his depth.

Any competitive character will want to play and back themselves to do so regardless of age and level but Paul points to the fierce fight for places in Ireland ’s line-up at present and really relished the one opportunity he did get.

“It was an unbelievable experience just being around that tournament but particularly playing against Pakistan at The Oval in front of 20,000 people. Even the older guys are saying that this is the strongest squad they’ve been part of so no-one can take anything for granted.”

The up-side of that though is that those who are good enough to get in the team have the prospect of being part of a successful side – and Ireland have consistently proved themselves to be the best of the Associate nations in recent years.

With Morgan lost to England, there’s a glaring gap at No 3 in the Ireland team in all forms of the game and apart from that representing an opportunity for Stirling, his country could do with someone special stepping up to fill the Dubliner’s big boots.

Just as this team now expects and demands a lot of itself, making Morgan’s loss less of a blow must be Stirling ’s bold aim and although he isn’t inclined to talk himself up, you feel that the young man will relish responsibility of this nature.

“The expectations on us have increased, individually and collectively, but we want to keep improving and with so many young players coming through, I feel fortunate to be in the frame for first go (at nailing down the No 3 spot),” says Stirling, who has opened and would happily bat anywhere but feels first wicket down is his preferred position at present.

Although county cricket is “the proven path” and, because of the established experience and fully professional set-ups, remains the best bet for helping a young player fulfil his potential, Paul pays tribute to the efforts of Cricket Ireland to take things to a new level here with even a few playing contracts now on the table.

“(Chief Executive) Warren Deutrom’s doing an excellent job and everything about the senior set-up under Phil Simmons is extremely professional with a strength and conditioning coach and so forth,” says Stirling who will continue to work hard at all aspects of his game, including fitness.

A “big lad by nature,” he has perhaps attracted adverse attention in the past over his build but Stirling ’s shed some pounds and anyway the runs have always flowed. And the Test cricket charts have featured plenty of, er, heavy scorers.

“When you’re younger you tend to focus on bat and ball but I’ll keep working with Tony, our strength and conditioning coach, to make sure I’m in the best possible shape and also work with Phil in the winter on the technical stuff.”

He intends to enhance his cricketing education by spending some time playing in Australia or South Africa this winter, another advantage of taking a gap year.

It will be a relief to leave the books behind for a bit after having had to juggle the period leading into the World Twenty20 with sitting his A levels.

They’re a big deal for most teenagers never mind trying to represent your country on the world stage at the same time but, as with top-class bowling, Stirling seemed fairly unbothered by that onslaught.

“It wasn’t too bad as I was allowed to sit some papers in London and Nottingham where we were, rather than having to fly back. I think they went alright but will find out in August!”

Although he had a little lean spell last summer after a promising start, Stirling seems to have coped well with being thrown in at the deep end by Simmons rather than it being too much too soon, though he admits things have happened pretty quickly.

At senior international level, you must pull your weight and can’t expect people to cut you some slack because of age but Paul has good guys around him in the Ireland set-up and says that he has been made to feel at home by the established stars.

He admires the likes of Kyle McCallan and Andrew White, Ireland ’s most capped cricketers of all time, and recognises that they are also good role models and ambassadors for the sport.

In international terms, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has been his favourite player, but in the future youngsters will be able to look to homegrown heroes for inspiration thanks to the Ireland team taking their own place on the world stage.

Like everyone else, Stirling was bowled over by Ireland ’s impact at the 2007 World Cup but it was even more exciting for him as an aspiring player who wanted to be part of the same set-up sometime in the future. Less than a year later, he was rubbing shoulders with the big boys and holding his own.

Dad Brian believes that, although the studies must not be completely crowded out by cricket, and it isn’t that easy to balance the two, the sporting side has been developmental for Paul, not least in terms of opportunities to travel and other enriching experiences.

Although Stirling senior didn’t personally play sport at the very highest level, he has had a great insight into it from taking charge of massive matches in international rugby – most memorably the Springboks’ first visit to the All Blacks’ backyard since coming out of international isolation, in 1994.

“In rugby, you don’t get bigger than New Zealand and South Africa so those two Tests still stand out,” says the man who was also involved in one of the first big calls by a video replay ref when awarding a crucial try to England ’s Dan Luger against Australia at the start of this decade.

As an assessor for the IRB and ERC, Stirling senior still has a significant rugby role but these days the former Irish Schools cricketer finds himself watching international sport as a proud father as well as a referee reviewer. Sometimes he’s spoilt for viewing choice.

On Saturday week, while the Lions were playing the first Test in South Africa, Paul was blasting a sensational 150 for Carrickfergus, his final 100 coming off a mere 41 balls.

Thanks to the young man’s duck a week later, he got to watch more of the second Test and no doubt felt for the officials who were in the spotlight in having to make several crucial calls.

We would be critical of Schalk Burger being given only a yellow card but Brian points out that the touchjudge did well to spot the incident in the first place – gouging-type offences tend to be picked up afterwards rather than at the time.

Representative recognition for the Stirling family is nothing new as not only Brian but his other two sons, Ross and Richard, have represented Irish Schools in cricket though the youngest of the boys is already out on his own in terms of achievement.

Not 19 until September, Paul has already won 27 caps for Ireland since making his debut early last year and, one way or another, Brian can look forward to watching international sport with a keen interest for the foreseeable future. And giving good advice along the way.