O'Brien ready for new season

* Leicestershire CCC is holding a family Open Day for the first day of the season against Glamorgan on Sunday, April 12. Admission is FREE to all and more information is available HERE

Leicestershire CCC batsman and wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien had the ultimate test ahead of the new domestic season.

O’Brien pitted his wits against the world’s best bowlers at the ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and both he and Ireland emerged with great credit.

The team were knocked out of the competition in agonising fashion on the last day. Ireland had beaten West Indies, the side who took the final qualifying place in the group stage, but went out because of net run rate.

It was the seventh time that O’Brien has represented his country in a major tournament and he has enjoyed every moment of his international career.

He said: “It was a great experience as the whole of Australia and New Zealand got behind the Irish team. We embraced the tournament, got out and about, and had six games in six different cities in two different countries.

“I’ve been lucky enough for the last seven or eight years, since Ireland have been getting more cricket, to be going into seasons where I have been playing for two or three months on the road.

“I felt that I played nicely. There were a couple of games that I got myself in and then out but the mentality we had was to attack. We knew that scores of 250-260 weren’t going to be good enough to win games so we would rather be ultra aggressive and try to get 300 plus, even if we came up a little bit short on occasions.

“We played well and I was happy with the way it went. I would have liked to have got a few more runs but generally I walked away with my held high, as did the whole team.”

O’Brien is now back training with his teammates and is excited ahead of the new season. The first LV=County Championship game is being played against Glamorgan at Grace Road on Sunday, April 12, where the club will hold a family Open Day.

He said: “I had two weeks off at the end of the World Cup but I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. They are slightly different conditions from playing at Adelaide with the white ball, so it will take some time to get used to, but I have a good 10 to 12 days before the game against Glamorgan starts.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve had a lot of good chats with Andrew McDonald over the winter. I’ve played against him a fair few times during his career over here and he’s got some good things planned.

“He’s really looking forward to the challenge and the boys are excited to get in front of him with the bat and ball. It’s always exciting when a new coach comes in.

“We have some good cricketers coming in too. Mark Cosgrove has been in good form in the second half of the Australian season. He smacked a couple of hundreds recently at better than a run a ball in first-class cricket and we all know what he can do.”

“Grant Elliott played one of the best innings at the World Cup against South Africa and he’ll be invaluable in T20 with bat, ball and his experience in helping the young lads who are coming through.”