Kevin O’Brien, the World Cup giant slayer of England, lists his favorite TV show as Gossip Girl, but it’s the free-swinging Irishman who’s the talk of the town in India.
The barrel-chested Dubliner, whose 50-ball century was the quickest of all time in the World Cup and sparked Ireland to their famous win in Bangalore, will turn 27 today.
The perfect gift will be for him to deliver another shock when his unheralded side tackle a brittle-looking Indian bowling attack on Sunday where a win will mean a giant leap closer to the quarter-finals.
A repeat of Wednesday’s headline-stealing assault on England could also pave the way for him to be indulged by the riches of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Who wouldn’t want to play in the IPL? A lot of people have said that Twenty20 suits me, the way I swing the bat and hit a few sixes,” O’Brien said. “If something comes of that, even better. If not, I’ll just concentrate on Sunday’s game against India and see what happens.”
O’Brien, sporting a hairstyle streaked with pink, blond and purple as part of a cancer charity awareness campaign, will not get his hopes up yet after getting used to setbacks in his career.
Having had a brief spell with Nottinghamshire in the English county championship in 2009, O’Brien currently plies his trade for Irish club side Railway Union.
He has also had his critics and he recently recalled his worst time as a professional.
“Personally the end of 2009 and start of the 2010 season, when I was struggling with form,” he said. “People were saying I wasn’t good enough to be in the squad, and should be dropped. That was a hard time for me reading those comments.”
In his darkest moments, help has been close at hand from his family.
Older brother Niall is still the national team’s wicketkeeper and a crucial part of the World Cup set-up.
Four years ago, it was Niall who stole the headlines when his innings of 72 off 107 balls helped Ireland to a famous World Cup win over 1992 champions Pakistan in Jamaica.
In all, five O’Brien brothers play cricket. Ger O’Brien even serves as the president of Railway Union.
In the stands at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore were his parents, Brendan, who played 11 times for Ireland in his 15-year career, and Camilla.
The only downside for jubilant dad was that he was wearing an Irish jersey with Niall’s name on it.
“My wife [Camilla] wore a Kevin jersey, I promise to swap it with her for the next game,” laughed Brendan.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that