Ireland’s Niall O’Brien calls it a day

Niall O'Brien, one of the pillars of Irish cricket in its rise to Test status over the last 15 years, has announced his retirement from the game on Friday. O'Brien follows his teammate Ed Joyce in deciding to call time shortly after playing in Ireland's inaugural Test, against Pakistan at Malahide in May. A talkative wicketkeeper and feisty batsman, O'Brien, 36, made his final international appearances during the ODI series with Afghanistan in August. He played in three World Cups for Ireland, memorably paving the way for its famous triumph over Pakistan at the 2007 tournament. In all, he played 216 times for Ireland, including 103 ODIs, 30 T20Is and a single Test, scoring more than 6000 runs across the formats.

Rare double declarations in NZ first-class game

New Zealand's first-class competition, the Plunket Shield, witnessed a rare double zero-for-zero declaration as Central Districts and Canterbury pushed for a decisive result in a rain-hit match in Nelson on Saturday. The result arrived in dramatic fashion, with leftarm quick Ryan McCone bowling the Canterbury No 11 Andrew Hazeldine off the last ball of the penultimate over of the match. With rain wiping out two full days of play, the fourth and final day began with Central Districts 301-7 in its first innings. It proceeded to add 51 to its total before declaring in the seventh over of the day. Canterbury then declared its first innings at zero for zero, and Central Districts proceeded to do the same in its second, effectively rendering it a one-innings match. It has only happened once in Test cricket - during the Centurion Test between South Africa and England in 2000.

Pakistani first-class team out for 35

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, winner of five of the last six Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy titles, was bowled out for paltry 35 by Habib Bank Limited in Faisalabad, Pakistan, on Friday. Sui is a team that tops Pool A this QeA season with four wins and a draw in five matches; a team that has 39 points. The team has Taufeeq Umar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Adnan Akmal and Bilawal Bhatti among its ranks.