Irish Cricketer of the Year announced

Niall O’Brien has been announced as the Irish Cricketer of the Year for 2002.

Niall - son of former international and Irish captain "Ginger" O'Brien - first represented Ireland at U15 level and progressed to U17, U18 and U19 where he formed part of the Ireland panel for the 2000 World Cup.

Selected initially as reserve wicket-keeper he was selected for matches as an opening bat, scoring 44 against Bangladesh.

During the winter of 2001/2002 he was one of Ireland's two representatives at the South African Academy.

He showed the benefits of this during the 2002 season, scoring his first century at club level, and going on to make four centuries in total.

He moved on to Ireland A level where he played in two tournaments, scoring a century against Scotland in Deventer in 2002, shortly after he made his debut for the full Irish side.

He was again picked for the Irish side in 2002 for the European Championship and kept his place for the remainder of the season.

He marked his debut season with a century against MCC in Cork, leading to a win.

He achieved an overall batting average for the season of 47.25. His ability as a genuine batsman/wicket-keeper holds out great prospects for the future of Irish cricket.