Niall John O'Brien (born 8 November 1981) is a former Irish

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and a cricket commentator. He is a left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Domestically O'Brien began his professional career with

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 2004 before joining

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

at the start of 2007, spending six seasons there before joining

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

for 2013. He made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut for Ireland in 2006; two years later he played his first

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Ireland's first ever Test match, against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, in May 2018. O'Brien has also played in overseas twenty20 leagues, first the

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a short-lived cricket league that ran from 2007 to 2009. It was sponsored by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, a media company. The ICL had two seasons, featuring four international teams and nine domestic teams ...

in 2008 and then the

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

on its formation in 2012. His brother,

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

, plays alongside him in the Ireland team while his father, Brendan, played cricket for Ireland from 1966 to 1981. Retrieved on 11 March 2008. In October 2018, O'Brien announced his retirement from cricket.

Personal life and education

O'Brien was educated in Marian College, Ballsbridge. His brother

is also a member of the Ireland team. Their father Brendan played 52 times for Ireland. His sister Ciara O'Brien is in the Ireland women's hockey team.

Domestic career

Niall first gained recognition playing domestic cricket in

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

for the Railway Union Cricket Club earning a call up to the Ireland A team. From there he established himself as Ireland's number one wicketkeeper. O'Brien himself has said that he has a fiery temperament. On 17 June 2004, he angered

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely renowned as one of the greatest Batting (cricket), batsmen of all time. He holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest in ...

when Lara refused to walk after being apparently caught behind. Retrieved on 7 March 2008. Ireland caused an upset when they went on to win the match, with O'Brien scoring 58* off 57 balls. Retrieved on 7 March 2008. In 2006 he was banned for one

ICC Intercontinental Cup The ICC Intercontinental Cup was a first-class cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of its cricket development programme. It was designed to allow List of International Cricket Council members, Associ ...

match after an outburst criticising the groundsman at an Intercontinental Cup game with Scotland because of condition of the pitch. Retrieved on 7 March 2008. O'Brien has spent many an Australian summer playing for Mosman Cricket Club in the

Sydney Grade Cricket NSW Premier Cricket, formerly and still commonly known as Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia, and is highest level club cricket competition in the state of New South Wales The competition began in 1893 when ...

competition. O'Brien also assumed a part-time coaching role while at the club and considers the time spent in Australia as some of the most vital parts of his career. He also played two seasons of first grade for

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

in the Sydney Grade Competition in 2003/04 and 2005/06. He also played a season with the Mosman club as an 18-year-old. Along with fellow Ireland player

Ed Joyce Edmund Christopher Joyce (born 22 September 1978) is an Irish cricket coach and former cricketer who played for both the Ireland and England national cricket teams. After beginning his career with Middlesex, he moved to Sussex in 2009, before re ...

, O'Brien made a series of impressive performances for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

before starting to take part in English cricket with

. O'Brien found multiple chances to perform for his county as fellow wicket-keeper

Geraint Jones Geraint Owen Jones (born 14 July 1976) is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, Jones was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team between 2004 and 20 ...

has found himself performing more often for the

England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

. After being released by Kent he signed a one-year deal with Northamptonshire for 2007. In the same year, he joined the Essel Group's

(ICL) to represent the Delhi Jets team for one season. Retrieved on 20 November 2007. O'Brien became the first player to play international cricket after playing in the ICL when he played an Intercontinental Cup match against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in March 2008; he went on to score 174 in Ireland's nine-wicket win. Retrieved on 10 March 2008. At the end of the 2008 season, O'Brien was named Northamptonshire's player of the year and was rewarded for his consistent performances with a three-year contract with the club. A representative of Northamptonshire CCC said "Niall, who has just returned from international duty, was in sensational form last season with the bat, scoring over 850 championship runs and piling on the runs in one-day competitions in a new pinch-hitter role". In a tour match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

during the 2009 Ashes in July 2009, O'Brien made scores of 30 and 58 in a match Northamptonshire lost. During his half century, he scored seven boundaries off the struggling

Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Guy Johnson (born 2 November 1981) is a former Australian cricketer, who played all forms of the game for his national side. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He represented Australia in international cricket from ...

. O'Brien missed most of the 2010 season after undergoing finger surgery in July; in his absence, David Murphy was Northamptonshire's first-choice wicket-keeper. In 2012, O'Brien signed a contract worth $80,000 with

Khulna Royal Bengals Khulna Tigers () is a franchise Twenty20 cricket team representing the Khulna division in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 cricket tournament. The franchise was owned by Gemcon Sports and was founded in 2016 as a replacement for th ...

represent them in the newly formed

, a domestic t20 competition. In five matches he scored 54 runs. At the end of the 2012 English County season, O'Brien left Northamptonshire after six seasons. In October 2012, it was announced that

had signed O'Brien in a three-year deal.

International career

His innings of 72 from 107 balls in the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

group match against

helped Ireland earn an upset victory and also earned him the man of the match award. Retrieved on 7 March 2008. Retrieved on 7 March 2008. O'Brien was one of seven Ireland players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year (there were fourteen nominees in all), although he did not make the 4-man short-list. O'Brien was selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup. O'Brien set a World Twenty20 record with his 4 dismissals against Sri Lanka in the Super 8 stage of the

2009 ICC World Twenty20 The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was the second edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20 that took place in England in June 2009. As before, the tournament featured 12 male teams – nine of the ten Test cricket, ...

. O'Brien was selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup to be hosted by Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka between February and April. During the tournament he became the third player to score 1,000 ODI runs for Ireland after

William Porterfield William Thomas Stuart Porterfield (born 6 September 1984) is an Irish former cricketer and a former captain of the Ireland cricket team. He played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. A left-handed batsman, he played for I ...

and his brother Kevin. He passed this landmark in Ireland's five-wicket defeat to India. In the same match, O'Brien and Porterfield established a new records for Ireland's third wicket in ODI, putting on 113 runs together. Ireland were due to play two ODIs against Pakistan in May, however O'Brien suffered an injury to his hand and was forced to miss the fixtures. On 16 February 2015, he smashed unbeaten 79 runs off 60 balls with 11 fours, guided Ireland to the victory against another

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

match playing nations, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. This was Ireland's third consecutive victory over test playing nations in three consecutive world cups. O'Brien's score was helped to beat mighty West Indian pace attack and finally Irish won their first match of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. On 23 March 2018, in Ireland's match against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in the

2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two t ...

, O'Brien played in his 100th ODI match.

Test cricket

In May 2018, he was named in a fourteen-man squad for Ireland's first ever Test match, which was played against Pakistan later the same month. He made his Test debut for Ireland, against Pakistan, on 11 May 2018. The Test match commenced on 12 May 2018, after the first day was washed out. However, he was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

in the first innings.

References

External links

Niall O'Brien Homepage
*
Northants Cricket Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Niall 1981 births Living people Ireland Test cricketers Ireland One Day International cricketers Ireland Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from County Dublin Irish cricketers Kent cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Delhi Giants cricketers Rangpur Riders cricketers Khulna Tigers cricketers Expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh North West Warriors cricketers Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Wicket-keepers