Andy McBrine would have accepted his man-of-the-series award in Jamaica on Sunday evening in the same no-fuss manner the all-rounder goes about his cricket after playing a pivotal role in Ireland’s historic 2-1 defeat of the West Indies.

The versatile 28-year-old was asked to bat in the top three in the World Cup Super League matches as a stop-gap for Paul Stirling in the first game, and then skipper Andy Balbirnie as both ruled out following positive Covid tests.

Not only did McBrine excel with the bat, making scores of 34 not out, 35 and 59, despite receiving a concussion when struck on the helmet in the first game, but he also claimed ten wickets in the three ODIs with his under-rated off-spin.

“Andy epitomises what an Irish cricketer should be, with the heart he shows,” stand-in skipper Stirling said after a nail-biting two-wicket win in the decider.

“It’s not easy to come back from being hit on the head, but he showed commitment and passion to help win us the game.”

McBrine hails from the cricket nursery of Donemana in Tyrone, with his father Junior and uncle James both internationals, and the same village side producing former Ireland captain William Porterfield and recent cap William McClintock.

The success of McBrine up the order has given the selectors a new option, but also a new headache when Stirling and Balbirnie are available again: does the all-rounder revert to his familiar position, or is veteran opener Porterfield jettisoned?

Simi Singh, another Covid absentee, only adds to the dilemma. He is regarded as Ireland’s premier off-spinner, but after such a stellar series, it’s unlikely McBrine will find himself back in another familiar role of carrying the drinks any time soon.

The two other players to leave the Caribbean with reputations enhanced are Harry Tector, the scorer of three composed half-centuries, and Craig Young, who claimed a trio of wickets in each match and sparked the West Indies decline on Sunday.

While celebrating Ireland’s first series victory over a traditional Test-playing nation and third place on the World Cup qualifying ladder – albeit having played many more games – their opponents were as poor as any West Indies team in recent memory.

McBrine, Tector and Young all made their way into the senior side after featuring in the U-19 World Cup and attention now switches wholly to the 2022 version of that event, with Ireland facing India tomorrow after beating Uganda in their opener.

South African-born Josh Cox went a long way to justifying his controversial selection with an unbeaten century in the opener, and left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys looks another one for the future.