Niall O'Brien

Ireland|Wicketkeeper Batter
Niall O'Brien
INTL CAREER: 2006 - 2018
Browse other players
Australia
All

Alphabetically sorted top ten of players who have played the most matches across formats in the last 12 months

Full Name

Niall John O'Brien

Born

November 08, 1981, Dublin

Age

42y 132d

Nicknames

Paddy

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

Playing Role

Wicketkeeper Batter

Height

5ft 7in

Education

Marian College Dublin

RELATIONS

(brother),

(father),

(sister)

Niall O'Brien, a left-handed batsman and wicketkeeper renowned for his competitiveness and relentless chirping behind the stumps, played the innings that forced the cricketing world to take note of Ireland. His magnificent 72, which were over three-quarters of Ireland's runs while he was at the crease, underpinned the St Patrick's Day victory over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup. He later contributed 63 against England in the tournament. He went on to be one of Ireland's most capped players.

As a player for Kent, O'Brien was already known to many of the English players. But when Geraint Jones lost his England place it led to O'Brien being released by Kent, and he moved to Northamptonshire at the start of the 2008 season. He enjoyed considerable success at the county, being named as Northants' Player of the Year at the end of the 2008 season and securing a three-year contract. After Nicky Boje relinquished the captaincy and Andrew Hall took up the position, O'Brien was named as his deputy. He was stripped of the position and banned from the team, however, for a breach of team disciplinary rules in June 2010. Although he was subsequently cleared at a disciplinary hearing and restored to the squad he no longer held the position of vice-captain and a fractured finger kept him out of action for most of the season.

Despite continuing to perform consistently - he averaged 35.72 in first-class cricket for Northants - O'Brien moved to Leicestershire at the start of the 2013 season on a three-year contract, where his experience brought solidity to a vulnerable batting line-up. In 2014 he scored 971 first-class runs, his highest tally in an English season. He retired from county cricket at the end of 2016 as his 35th birthday approached and took up a career opportunity in talent management. Although he planned to settle in Leicestershire, he had plans to play for Leinster Lightning in the new first-class competition scheduled for 2017 and did not retire from international cricket.

The son of Brendan, a former Ireland captain, Niall has played alongside Kevin, his younger brother for Ireland. But he played in the Bangladesh Premier League, against Cricket Ireland's wishes, at the start of 2012. He was left out of the subsequent World T20 Qualifiers and, when he regained his place in the side, found that he had been usurped by Gary Wilson behind the stumps and has yet to regain the gloves.

A confident character and batsman, O'Brien's combative nature earned him a one-match ban after an outburst at officials during an Intercontinental Cup game with Scotland. The Dubliner also managed to incense Brian Lara when Ireland defeated the West Indies in 2004, in which he made 58. Lara, in O'Brien's eyes, had been caught at the wicket, but chose not to walk.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Niall O'Brien Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests12018189.005532.72002020
ODIs1031019258110928.05363870.94118218309014
T20Is302824665017.9247598.10014071710
FC17628328905718235.511637155.321548--49248
List A23821426570012130.31736477.40436--21044
T20s1471271823298421.362091111.3805203418235

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests1------------
ODIs103------------
T20Is30------------
FC176-181921/41/49.506.339.0000
List A238-000-----000
T20s147------------
Niall John O'Brien

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of Niall O'Brien

MatchBatWktDateGroundFormat
NW Warriors vs Leinster82c/1s09-Sep-2018DublinList A
Ireland vs Afghanistan11c/0s31-Aug-2018BelfastODI # 4035
Ireland vs Afghanistan100c/1s29-Aug-2018BelfastODI # 4033
Ireland vs Afghanistan110c/0s27-Aug-2018BelfastODI # 4032
NW Warriors vs Knights45 & 651c/0s & 2c/0s17-Jul-2018BreadyFC

Photos of Niall O'Brien

Niall and Kevin O'Brien ring the five-minute bell at Lord's
Andy Balbirnie and Tamim Iqbal at the toss along with Jeff Crowe and Niall O'Brien
Niall O'Brien was almost run out for a pair
Niall O'Brien was bowled by Mohammad Amir for 18
Mohammad Amir sent Niall O'Brien's stumps flying
Mohammad Abbas bagged Niall O'Brien for a duck