Iain O'Brien
Encyclopedia
Iain Edward O'Brien is a New Zealand
cricket
er who specialises in pace bowling. He also plays for Wellington, Leicestershire County Cricket Club
and recently, the Middlesex County Cricket Club
.
O'Brien made his debut for the national side in March 2005 following injuries to senior international players, such as Shane Bond
, Daryl Tuffey
and Chris Martin
but has been in and out of the side since to replace injured and retired players. He made his One Day International debut against the England
cricket team, and had a tough debut, with figures of 1/59 in 6 overs.
However, between 2007 and 2009 he established himself in the Test side, and to a lesser extent, in the ODI side, particularly in the absence of Shane Bond
and he is renowned as an 'into-the-wind' bowler who would often bowl at an end that did not offer favourable bowling conditions—especially at Wellington, a ground renowned for strong winds. He enjoyed much success as a fast bowler for the Black Caps, with great performances against England in the UK, and against the West Indies cricket team at home, where he took his best Test figures of 6/75, in a spell of bowling regarded as one of the best in New Zealand. These performance have given him the reputation as a wicket-taking bowler, and being the go-to man for Daniel Vettori
, the captain. He continued his consistent spells against the Australia cricket team, home and away, and for Wellington.
He played at Leicestershire during the 2009 season as their overseas player, impressing by taking 21 first-class wickets at an average of 26.04 in a struggling team, including 9 wickets in a game where he took 6/39 on his birthday. He did, however, suffer from match bans for showing dissent against umpiring decisions. During New Zealand's tour of England in 2008, he had had similar success, taking 15 wickets at 26.80. Against the Pakistan cricket team at home in December 2009, he has become well known for bowling New Zealand to victory by taking 3 wickets while suffering from a broken thumb. In this same series, he took 6 wickets in the next game, including 4/66, dismissing the likes of Salman Butt
, Imran Farhat
and Misbah-ul-Haq
.
In December 2009, he announced his decision to retire from international cricket to spend more time with his wife in England and this decision prompted Middlesex
to sign O'Brien as their overseas player for the 2010 season.
The 2010 season was a frustrating one for O'Brien, he took 23 wickets at an average of 27.30 for Middlesex in division two of the County championship. However, Injury restricted his appearances for Middlesex to just seven championship matches, one CB40 match (in which he took 4-41 in 8 overs)& a single FP Twenty20
match.
. Rarely has an international cricketer been so candid about his own faults during his career. O'Brien's blog is not updated straight away after all games, but he generally talks about all games he has played in. It is a far cry from the ghost written columns of most cricketers, and has gotten him in hot water with NZC before. O'Brien really enjoys writing and has already been a special guest writer in the book Ashes 09: When Freddie Became Jesus and is contributing to a book on New Zealand Indoor Cricket
as well.
O'Brien also is an occasional contributor to Test Match Sofa
- an online alternative cricket commentary service.
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who specialises in pace bowling. He also plays for Wellington, Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
and recently, the Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
.
O'Brien made his debut for the national side in March 2005 following injuries to senior international players, such as Shane Bond
Shane Bond
Shane Edward Bond was a New Zealand cricketer, described as "New Zealand's best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee". He has represented New Zealand in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket as well as playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket and Warwickshire in English...
, Daryl Tuffey
Daryl Tuffey
Daryl Raymond Tuffey is a New Zealand cricketer who has represented New Zealand at Test and ODI level, and plays domestic first class cricket for Northern Districts Knights. He is playfully known as Daryl "Huffy-Puffy" Tuffey by his Northern Districts team mates due to his heavy breathing when...
and Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
but has been in and out of the side since to replace injured and retired players. He made his One Day International debut against the England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket team, and had a tough debut, with figures of 1/59 in 6 overs.
However, between 2007 and 2009 he established himself in the Test side, and to a lesser extent, in the ODI side, particularly in the absence of Shane Bond
Shane Bond
Shane Edward Bond was a New Zealand cricketer, described as "New Zealand's best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee". He has represented New Zealand in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket as well as playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket and Warwickshire in English...
and he is renowned as an 'into-the-wind' bowler who would often bowl at an end that did not offer favourable bowling conditions—especially at Wellington, a ground renowned for strong winds. He enjoyed much success as a fast bowler for the Black Caps, with great performances against England in the UK, and against the West Indies cricket team at home, where he took his best Test figures of 6/75, in a spell of bowling regarded as one of the best in New Zealand. These performance have given him the reputation as a wicket-taking bowler, and being the go-to man for Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Luca Vettori ONZM is a cricketer for the New Zealand cricket team. He is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs. He is the youngest player to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket, having made his debut in 1996–97 at the age of 18...
, the captain. He continued his consistent spells against the Australia cricket team, home and away, and for Wellington.
He played at Leicestershire during the 2009 season as their overseas player, impressing by taking 21 first-class wickets at an average of 26.04 in a struggling team, including 9 wickets in a game where he took 6/39 on his birthday. He did, however, suffer from match bans for showing dissent against umpiring decisions. During New Zealand's tour of England in 2008, he had had similar success, taking 15 wickets at 26.80. Against the Pakistan cricket team at home in December 2009, he has become well known for bowling New Zealand to victory by taking 3 wickets while suffering from a broken thumb. In this same series, he took 6 wickets in the next game, including 4/66, dismissing the likes of Salman Butt
Salman Butt
Salman Butt is a former Pakistani cricketer who was a regular Test and ODI left-handed opening batsman. He made his Test debut on 3 September 2003 in the third Test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on 22 September 2004. He was appointed captain of the...
, Imran Farhat
Imran Farhat
Imran Farhat is a Pakistani cricketer who has played over 30 Tests and One Day Internationals for Pakistan, opening the batting in most of his international innings.-Career:...
and Misbah-ul-Haq
Misbah-ul-Haq
Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi is a Pakistani cricketer and the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team for s and s...
.
In December 2009, he announced his decision to retire from international cricket to spend more time with his wife in England and this decision prompted Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
to sign O'Brien as their overseas player for the 2010 season.
2010 Season
The 2010 season was a frustrating one for O'Brien, he took 23 wickets at an average of 27.30 for Middlesex in division two of the County championship. However, Injury restricted his appearances for Middlesex to just seven championship matches, one CB40 match (in which he took 4-41 in 8 overs)& a single FP Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
match.
Writing
Part of O'Brien's appeal to fans is because of his writing, both for his own blog and for cricinfoCricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
. Rarely has an international cricketer been so candid about his own faults during his career. O'Brien's blog is not updated straight away after all games, but he generally talks about all games he has played in. It is a far cry from the ghost written columns of most cricketers, and has gotten him in hot water with NZC before. O'Brien really enjoys writing and has already been a special guest writer in the book Ashes 09: When Freddie Became Jesus and is contributing to a book on New Zealand Indoor Cricket
Indoor cricket
Indoor cricket is a variant of and shares many basic concepts with cricket. The game is most often played between two teams each consisting of eight players, in matches featuring two innings of sixteen 7-ball overs each...
as well.
O'Brien also is an occasional contributor to Test Match Sofa
Test Match Sofa
Test Match Sofa is an online radio station providing cricket commentary for all England test matches and selected One Day Internationals. The station is available worldwide serving as alternative commentary to the BBC's Test Match Special which is only available in the United Kingdom.The station...
- an online alternative cricket commentary service.