O’Brien is hoping the ICC will give Ireland full Test status sooner rather than later

Ireland batsman Niall O’Brien has announced that he hopes he is still playing international cricket when the International Cricket Council (ICC) decide to give the country full Test status.

O’Brien revealed that cricket was a tradition in his family and it would make him extremely proud if Ireland were given the honour of becoming a full-time Test nation while he was still with the team.

“My dad played cricket for Ireland, captained Ireland, so it was an every day thing for me and my family and friends growing up in the village called Sandymount in Dublin,” O’Brien said during an interview with Pakpassion.net. “My dad was probably one of my biggest mentors. When I started playing the top level of club cricket as a 14-year-old, he was still playing as a 50-year-old, or there or thereabouts, so he was my biggest mentor. But I did have some good coaches along the way.”

O’Brien also credited Ireland coach Adrian Burrell for helping him take his game up to the next level.

“The biggest stepping stone of my career was when Adrian Burrell, the Ireland coach, took over in 2002 and he took my game and Irish cricket to another level,” O’Brien added.

The Irish batsman further mentioned that he had signed a three-year deal with Leicestershire after spending three seasons with Kent and six years at Northamptonshire.