Ireland's Andrew Poynter bids adieu to cricket

Ireland batsman Andrew Poynter has announced retirement from international and inter-provincial cricket, thus bringing an end to his eight-year career.

The 29-year-old insisted that he was finding it difficult to manage cricket and his business simultaneously and, therefore, decided to hang up his pads to fulfill his off the field commitments.

"I have always found it tough to manage an international and inter-provincial cricket career whilst having to juggle running my own business, AP Sports. I'm head of youth coaching at Clontarf CC and have other coaching roles as well as a young family," Poynter was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

While claiming that he could still perform well at inter-provincial level, Poynter said he is now looking forward to develop his coaching career and spend more time with his family.

"I am so proud of my achievements in an Irish jersey, especially captaining my country and playing in two World Cups. I'll miss the green jersey but this is the right decision for me. I'd like to thank all involved in giving me the opportunity to pursue my dream," he said.

Poynter has scored a total of 474 runs in 19 ODIs and 19 T20Is he played for Ireland so far.

He had also been a part of Ireland's T20 squad in the World T20 in India, but did not feature in the ODIs since September 2014.