Former England quick returns to Ireland

Boyd Rankin, who played a minor role in a slice of Australian Ashes folklore, has given up on his England Test career and will again play for his native Ireland.

Rankin, a right-arm fast-bowler whose one and only Test for England was the final match of Australia's Ashes whitewash on 2013-14, confirmed this week that he will return to the country of his birth, for whom he made 52 international appearances between 2007 and 2012.

The quick, who was born in Northern Ireland, pledged his allegiance to England in August 2012 in order to pursure a Test career and debuted against Australia at the SCG in January 2014.

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Rankin is dismissed at the SCG to end the 2013-14 Ashes // Getty Images

But England and Rankin had a match to forget, the quick taking the wicket of Peter Siddle but leaving the field twice due to a combination of cramp and nerves. He later admitted that he "let myself and the rest of the team down".

Rankin also played a role in the famous final act of that match; he was the last man dismissed, edging Ryan Harris to Michael Clarke at second slip to complete Australia's historic 5-0 series win.

Having been overlooked in the England and England Lions squads for their winter tours, Rankin has decided to again pledge his allegiance to Ireland.

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"I'm delighted to be returning to Irish cricket, where I was born and learned the game," said Rankin.

"I'll always be grateful to England for the chance to play Test cricket, but with little opportunities in the last two years, I felt it was time to move on at this stage of my career.

"There's a real opportunity for Ireland to get Test status now, and that prospect was a real lure for me - I'd love to be part of history. Before that of course there's a T20 World Cup in India - I've played in three before with Ireland and it'd be great to make it four.

"I've also very happy memories of both the 2007 and 2011 50-over World Cups in the West Indies and India, and I'd like to make it a hat-trick of appearances in 2019 in England."

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Rankin will officially be eligible to play for Ireland again on January 18, having played his final match for England - an ODI against Australia at the Gabba, on January 17 2014.

He was the third man to have represented both Ireland and England at the top level; Ed Joyce played 19 matches for England before switching to Ireland, while England's current ODI captain Eoin Morgan represented Ireland 23 times before pursuing his career with England.

Rankin's decision is a welcome boost for Ireland ahead of the World T20 in March and April next year, where they are in Group A along with Bangladesh, Netherlands and Oman in the qualifying stages of the tournament. The winner of Group A will win through the the main tournament and will be grouped with Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand.