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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Paul Stirling, Ireland Men’s captain, has been ruled out of the rest of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after an assessment on a knee injury sustained in the match against Australia yesterday.

Stirling was fielding at cover in the 7th over of the first innings of the match when he dived high to his right to take a spectacular catch to dismiss Josh Inglis. However, as he came down, he landed on the point of his knee on an area of hard ground.

Shortly after he left the field and vice-captain Lorcan Tucker took over on-field leadership duties.

Going into the second innings, Stirling advised team management he felt he was able to bat and walked out to open with Ross Adair. On the first ball, Stirling dug out a full-length ball on leg stump to wide mid on and set off for a single. As he took a few steps his knee buckled – and despite successfully struggling to complete the single in obvious pain – the Irish captain was forced to retire hurt.

Graeme West, Director of High Performance at Cricket Ireland, said:

“Paul Stirling underwent an assessment and a scan after the Australian match which has subsequently revealed ligament damage – as such, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup. Paul will shortly return home for rest and rehabilitation, ahead of the home summer.

“To replace Paul, we have called up Sam Topping, who is able to provide immediate cover as he is a short flight away in Chennai. Sam has been with the Northern Knights training squad and has been playing and training in similar conditions to Sri Lanka. The skill set he offers provides cover across a number of areas within the squad, which is important as Ben Calitz is also carrying a knock to his hand after the last match.”

The 20-year old, Antrim-born left-handed opener is currently in Chennai at an off-season training camp with the Northern Knights training squad. He is additionally an accomplished wicketkeeper and played the last domestic season in Ireland scoring 217 runs at 31.00 in T20s with a strike rate of 140. His highest score of 83 came off just 48 balls and was one of two half-centuries he scored in seven innings. He is currently uncapped at international level.