Ireland's O'Brien sets sights on England career

Ireland's Niall O'Brien wants to follow his countryman Ed Joyce in playing for England. O'Brien was Ireland's hero in their World Cup victory against Pakistan on Saturday, striking 72.

"I want to play cricket at the highest level and obviously that's Test match cricket," he told Reuters news agency. "Whether that's for Ireland or England I'm not really sure," he began, with some loyalty, before adding: "realistically, it's with England."

O'Brien, a wicketkeeper/batsman, spent four years at Kent but lost his place there when Geraint Jones was demoted from the England set-up. Northamptonshire soon snapped him up and he is set to make his debut for them later on this year.

But he is grateful for his time at Kent. "It proved to be a great stepping stone and I want to push on with Northants now."

In the meantime, he is focused on taking Ireland as far as they can in the World Cup, and with a win and a tie under their belts already, their ambitions to make the next stage are looking realistic: "Hopefully we'll be in the Super Eights and I will be able to do my pre-season out here in the sun rather than the cold and rain in Northampton."