OTD| Ireland’s Niall O’Brien was born in 1981

Former Irish cricketer Niall O’Brien is celebrating his 42nd birthday today. He is one of the famous O’Brien brothers who were among the first globally known-cricketers. Niall O’Brien was a left-handed batter who could also keep wickets. 

The Beginning

Niall O’Brien made his first-class debut for Kent in 2004 against Gloucestershire. He made his debut for Ireland in 2006 against Scotland and went on to become one of the mainstays in the Irish team. O’Brien got his break in T20 cricket against the same opposition in 2008. 

O’Brien served Irish cricket for around a decade and became one of the trailblazers of Irish cricket who gave them recognition in World Cricket. 

The Overview

Niall O’Brien represented Ireland in 103 One-Day internationals where he made 2582 runs at an average of 28.05. He made 19 fifty-plus scores in his career including a century against New Zealand in a run chase. 

In the shortest format, he played 28 matches making 466 runs. O’Brien also played in franchise leagues all around the world becoming one of the first Irish cricketers to play in various franchise leagues. 

He only got to play one test match which he played against Pakistan in Dublin in the later phase of his career. Apart from the international career he had an impressive first-class career as well. He played the majority of his first-class cricket in the County Championship in England. O’Brien has more than 9000 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 35.51. Initially, he played for Kent then switched to Northamptonshire in 2012. The Irish batsman had a fair share of experience in List-A cricket as well. In 238 matches he scored 5700 runs at an average of 30.31. 

He will always be remembered in Irish cricket as one of the first pathbreakers for the new generation of Irish cricketers. 

Also read: West Indies’ star all-rounder Jason Holder was born in 1991