One of the great Ireland careers officially ended yesterday with William Porterfield deciding that coaching was now his priority, so when Ireland face New Zealand in the first one-day international next month, he will be preparing Gloucestershire for their county championship match against Essex.

Even confirmation that he had been selected for the team to face the world’s top ODI side did not sway Porterfield, who has called time after 16 years and 310 caps — the majority of them captaining the side as an opening batsman.

A golden duck at Sabina Park in January — scene of Ireland’s first World Cup victory, against Pakistan in 2007, with Porterfield the only survivor — was not the way he would have wanted to go out but he had the satisfaction of helping Ireland to their first overseas series win.

“Gloucestershire actually said ‘go and play in the New Zealand games’ but I didn’t feel like I was doing myself justice,” said Porterfield. “I wanted to buy into one or the other and the opportunity was there with Gloucestershire and, if I am being honest with myself, mentally had bought into that and switched off from playing for a few weeks.

“I still feel I could have gone back on Monday and trained for three weeks and performed against New Zealand but you don’t get the opportunity that often to step into a role which Gloucestershire have offered. I had to be quite pragmatic.

“I’ll be 38 at the end of the season. Timing is everything in professional sport and in 12-18 months time, I could be in the same position of stepping away and the opportunity is not there.

“The decision is quite raw and I’m still not 100 per cent sure if it’s the right one, but it is a life decision and time will tell.”

Like everything Porterfield has ever done in his career, when he takes something on, he takes it on at full pelt and so, after 9,507 runs — only Paul Stirling has scored more — and a record 18 centuries, he admits that over the last month he has immersed himself in his new consultancy role at the County Ground in Bristol.

“I got the opportunity to go down there for the past three-four weeks which ruled out (playing at Bready in) the (T20) Festival. So I spoke to Heinrich (Malan, Ireland head coach) and Richard (Holdsworth, performance director) and they were really supportive.

“I hadn’t played T20 cricket for a while in Ireland colours and they said if it’s a path you are looking to go down in terms of coaching, go ahead. It was as simple as that. It might have been different if I was being considered for the T20 World Cup but that was never going to be the case and (as a contracted player) it was just a matter of getting permission to go.

“I have been offered a consultancy role until the end of the season and over the last few weeks, I have really bought into it and immersed in it.”

Porterfield will continue to fly back and forth when available. He is already committed, in his coaching role, to the Ireland camp next Monday to Thursday, ahead of the T20 internationals against India and insists he will still be at the end of the phone if anyone needs him.

His biggest regret, for now, is actually missing North West Warriors’ final Inter-pro Cup match against Munster Reds at Eglinton on July 1.

“If we win that with a bonus point, we win the Cup, so I did consider that as it’s something I have enjoyed for the last couple of years, helping those lads through,” he added.

“It was almost a player/coach role because the best place to learn is out in the middle, that’s where I felt I added value, batting long with people and talking about it and helping Andy (McBrine) with the captaincy — but like all captains, he had the final decision.”

Porterfield is still assistant coach to Boyd Rankin at the Warriors but has yet to speak to North West Cricket chief executive Peter McCartney about that particular role. Meantime, he is delighted to see Warriors team-mates Stephen Doheny and Conor Olphert win Ireland call-ups for the games against India.

“Stephen’s form for the last couple of years has been unbelievable but he has really kicked on this year and I’m delighted for him. He has worked so hard,” he said. “Conor has come through quicker than he probably believed but watching him from slip in five matches this year, I was asking myself ‘where has he been all this time, he has got something here’. He deserves his contract and all the plaudits he gets. I hope they both go down there next week and enjoy it.”

For now, though, after the enjoyment that Porterfield has given Ireland watchers down the years, it’s a case of thanks for the memories.