Ireland’s O’Brien out to stun England again
SIX years on from the most famous night in Irish cricket history, Kevin O’Brien is planning another heist.
Ireland are set to embark on their first bilateral one-day series against England — a two-game affair at Bristol and Lord’s starting on Friday — and O’Brien wants to summon the spirit of the 2011 World Cup, when his 50-ball century stunned Andrew Strauss’s team.
Their three-wicket triumph in Bangalore remains their only win over England in six one-day internationals. And with Ireland pushing for Test status, O’Brien said: ‘It’s good to have those memories at the back of your mind.
‘If I’m a bit down or struggling, I’ll look at that performance. I just had no fear that night.’
What happened was hard to credit. In all, O’Brien hammered 113 off 63 balls, with 13 fours and six sixes, two each off Jimmy Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann. And England slumped to a defeat that contributed to their eventual group-stage exit.
The innings remains O’Brien’s most recent international hundred — and it threatened to become a mixed blessing.
‘People came up to me and said, “When will we see another hundred off 50 balls?” I told them I would never do it again and for a while it weighed on my mind. I tried too hard. But it was a reminder that I produce my best performances when I don’t put too much pressure on myself, don’t think too much and let my hand-eye coordination take over. It would be great to spur on the team this time and do something similar.’
Ireland have endured some difficult times of late, losing a 50-over series to Afghanistan in March and becoming adrift at the bottom of the world rankings. But the suggestion they need to prove something to the English public gets short shrift from O’Brien.
‘A lot of people here know how good some of our players are,’ he said. ‘And guys like Ed Joyce, Paul Stirling and Tim Murtagh have played a lot of cricket at Lord’s. I don’t think they need to prove their quality.
‘That game in particular is going to be massive. And if we play well, it’s going to make Irish cricket’s prospects for Test status that bit stronger.’