Ed Joyce

Edmund "Ed" Christopher Joyce (born 22 September 1978) is an Irish cricket coach and former cricketer who played for both the Ireland and England national cricket teams.

Joyce made his Middlesex debut in 1999 and won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2000.

He has been a regular member of the first team since 2002, in which year he averaged 51 and scored four hundreds.

Joyce replaced Owais Shah as acting county captain midway through the 2004 season, but was not appointed for the 2005 season with Ben Hutton taking over.

Joyce played a number of matches for Ireland in the ICC Trophy, averaging over 70 in the competition, but in July 2005 qualified to play for England by virtue of his residency there.

In October 2005, Joyce was selected for the England cricket academy and gained a spot in the England "A" squad to tour the West Indies in Spring 2006.

After qualifying to play for England, Joyce was a member of the squad in the 2006–07 Ashes series and 2007 World Cup.

In June 2006 he was selected in the England One Day International (ODI) squad for the series with Sri Lanka.

He made his England ODI debut against Ireland in Stormont Park, Belfast in June 2006.

The Irish team included his younger brother, Dominick.

Two days later, he represented England in his first Twenty20 International, but sprained his ankle and was out injured for four weeks.

He made his return for Middlesex at Edgbaston on 14 July 2006, in the County Championship against Warwickshire, scoring a career-best 211 in the first innings.

On 15 November 2006, Joyce was selected by England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, to be in the Test squad for the 2006/2007 Ashes series, in place of Marcus Trescothick, who withdrew, suffering from a stress-related illness.

This was a somewhat controversial decision as he was given preference over the more experienced Owais Shah and Robert Key.

Although he was not chosen for any of the Tests against Australia he was chosen to play in the subsequent One-day International series following an injury to Kevin Pietersen.

He totalled 288 runs in nine matches at an average of 32.00, including his maiden half-century in the losing run-chase against New Zealand at Perth.

However, the highlight of the series for Joyce was the victory over Australia at the SCG on 2 February 2007.

Opening the innings, Joyce scored a match-winning 107 from 142 balls, helping England amass 292–7, and became the first English cricketer to score a One Day International century away from home in nineteen matches.

Joyce was named Man of the Match for his performance, and the innings helped him earn a place in the squad for the World Cup in the West Indies.

During the 2007 World Cup, Joyce made fifties against the non-Test nations of Canada and Kenya, but made a duck against New Zealand in the first group game and 1 against his native Ireland as well as dropping a catch in the first Super Eight game.

Joyce was acting captain for most of the 2008 season in the absence of the injured Ed Smith this included leading the Middlesex team to victory in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup.

After this competition, the captaincy was handed to Shaun Udal whilst there was uncertainty around Joyce's long-term future at the club.

It was announced on 3 November 2008 that Joyce would be leaving Middlesex to play for Sussex.

Vinny Codrington, Middlesex's chief executive, said "[Joyce] felt he needed a fresh challenge. He felt moving counties would help him rediscover the form that got him into the England side a couple of years ago... He was always one of the first names on the team-sheet and he has been outstanding and undoubtedly we're going to miss him".

Despite his imminent departure, Middlesex included Joyce in their squad for the Stanford Super Series and the eventually-cancelled Twenty20 Champions League as a gesture of gratitude for his influence in winning the Twenty20 Cup.

After beginning his career with Middlesex, he moved to Sussex in 2009, before returning to Ireland to play for Leinster Lightning in the fledgling first-class competition, the Irish Inter-Provincial Championship.

A left-handed batsman and occasional right-arm bowler of medium pace, Joyce is widely regarded as one of the best cricketers produced by Ireland.

A strong first season for Sussex, with three centuries, ensured Joyce remained on the fringes of England selection, being named in the provisional England squad for the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and in November 2009, he signed a new three-year contract with the county.

Joyce suffered a unique dismissal in a 2009 Championship game against Warwickshire.

He swept a ball from Ant Botha straight into short-leg fielder Jonathan Trott's pocket.

Trott had turned his back and leapt out of the way of the ball; he was stunned to find the ball lodged in his right pocket.

While he was scoring heavily for Sussex in 2009, Joyce harboured hopes of breaking back into the England team.

However, he was overlooked and by March 2010 was considering representing Ireland again.

Since dropping down the pecking order for selection with England, Joyce got special dispensation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to play for Ireland in the 2011 World Cup.

He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Ireland's first ever Test match, against Pakistan.

He became Sussex captain on 31 July 2012, succeeding Michael Yardy.

In October 2015, Joyce announced he would step down as captain of the Sussex team following their relegation from the County Championship Division One.

On 24 May 2018, he announced his retirement from all professional cricket.

In June 2019, Joyce was appointed as the interim head coach of the Ireland women's cricket team.

He was born in Dublin, educated at St. Patrick's Primary School, Bray, County Wicklow and at Presentation College, Bray, and studied economics at Trinity College, Dublin.