A right-arm medium-fast bowler, Barry McCarthy, comes from a family of cricketers with sister, Louise McCarthy, being a part of Ireland's women's team. Ben Stokes identified the pacer's talent and persuaded his club - Durham - to sign him up. He has also had the experience of featuring in Ireland's Under-19 team.
 

On the back of stupendous shows at the domestic level, McCarthy was named in Ireland's limited-overs' squad for the first time during the home series against Sri Lanka in June 2016 and made his debut in the first game. He pocketed two wickets in his maiden outing and made a mark for himself. While McCarthy has been on the higher side economy-wise, his uncanny ability to take wickets has made him an useful asset for his national team.
 

During the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, McCarthy was consistency personified and was the go-to bowler for his skipper. He was named by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the rising star of Irish cricket for the year 2018. Having set such high standards, his stocks started to dip in no time and inevitably was shown the door by the selectors in 2019 only for him to reappear in the Ireland squad mid-way through the 2020 World Cup qualifiers in the UAE, thanks to David Delany's injury, who was ruled out of the competition