Full name Niall John O'Brien
Born November 8, 1981, Dublin
Current age 26 years 288 days
Major teams Ireland,Ireland Under-19s,Kent,Northamptonshire
Nickname Paddy
Batting style Left-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Height
5 ft 7 in
Education Marian College Dublin
Ireland v Scotland at Dublin, Jul 31, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut
Ireland v Scotland at Belfast, Aug 2, 2008 scorecard
Last T20I
Ireland v Netherlands at Belfast, Aug 5, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut
2004
Last First-class
Warwickshire v Northamptonshire at Birmingham, Aug 7-10, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
2003
Last List A
Surrey v Northamptonshire at The Oval, Aug 17, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Kent v Middlesex at Maidstone, Jul 2, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Ireland v Netherlands at Belfast, Aug 5, 2008 scorecard
Profile
A confident character and batsman, his combative nature earned him a one-match ban after an outburst at officials during an Intercontinental Cup game with Scotland. He also managed to incense Brian Lara when Ireland defeated the West Indies in 2004, in which he made 58. He was understudy to Geraint Jones at Kent for the 2006 season but Jones losing his England place had a knock-on effect and saw Niall released by the county. A revelation for Ireland in the 2007 World Cup, though, with two fifties and impressing with a remarkable composure for someone so inexperienced at international level. His calm, steady 72 helped Ireland pull of the biggest shock in World Cup history when they beat Pakistan, and a 63 against England underlined his ability, not to mention pluck. He joined the growing number of Ireland players in England for the 2007 season, signing for Northamptonshire. Alan Curr April 2007
