Usually the great ones get to choose how they want to bow out. Kevin O’Brien wasn’t so lucky.
He is regarded by many as Ireland’s greatest cricketer. Not many participants in what is a minority sport on these shores peak the interest of the average sports fan, yet his 2011 heroics against England guarantee him a permanent place in the Irish sporting psych.
O’Brien – Ireland’s most capped sportsman with 389 – wanted to retire after the upcoming T20 World Cup (Ireland get their campaign under way against Zimbabwe on Monday in Australia). Last November, he lost his place in the side and after spending almost a year trying to get it back, he called it a day back in August at the age of 38, ending the dream of one last farewell tournament.
Sport is brutal even for its most cherished sons.
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“Perhaps foolishly, I always thought I would go out on my own terms and I always wanted to retire after this World Cup,” explains O’Brien now he has had time to adjust to officially ending his international career.
“I said it to the selectors 12,18 months ago that this was my plan. That was just me being naive and not realising the cut-throat business of professional sport.”
O’Brien decided on a change of scenery this summer to try and force his way back into national reckoning. He both moved to the Munster Reds and started batting in the middle order after the Irish captain, Andrew Balbirnie, opted to take what was O’Brien’s opening spot in the national team.
[ End of an era: Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien retires from international cricketOpens in new window ]
Since he was dropped, whether or not O’Brien should get another go has split the opinion of Irish fans. But the thoughts of those who matter, the selectors, always seemed to hint that his face simply no longer fit.
What hasn’t helped O’Brien is the form of those ahead of him in Ireland’s middle order. Harry Tector has emerged as one of the country’s brightest young talents, George Dockrell had a career-best summer, while Gareth Delany is indispensable due to his all-round ability now he is Ireland’s main spinner.
“I felt I was good enough to play throughout the summer,” says O’Brien. “I thought my performances for Munster warranted me getting back into the team for at least a few games, but ultimately they thought I was too old, not fit enough and this, that and the other.
“From the outside looking in and chatting to people in and around the management side of it ... the vibe I got was they weren’t going to come back to me. A couple of reasons were given which I felt were a bit left-field, but that’s just the way it is.
“What I heard, but ultimately no one had spoken to me about, was that fitness was an issue; but nobody told me [before this summer] I wasn’t fit enough to try get back in the team.
“I could have pulled up stumps earlier on in the summer and not finished the interpro season but I wanted to play out of respect for Ted [Williamson, Munster head coach] and the rest of the guys.
“They decided not to pick me last year which was fine, but no one from the management side spoke to me apart from one phone call maybe halfway through the summer, which I felt was a bit disappointing.
“I’ve been involved with the team for 16 years and I can’t say communication was always their strong suit. If you talk to other people who are out of the squad, they don’t get much communication from selectors or people in the management team.
“I think that’s something that needs to change going forward.”
Clearly the manner of the departure still stings. But O’Brien – whose next move likely involves playing in the Legends League in Asia, coaching with the Italian national side as well as growing his own academy in his home club Railway Union – remains adamant he would change nothing.
“I can’t regret how it’s happened because it was taken out of my hands effectively. I don’t regret much throughout my career, I played cricket the way I thought it should be played, I always wanted to try and be aggressive.
“I don’t regret the way it finished, I don’t regret the press release I put out, I don’t regret anything. I needed to cut ties and end that stage of my career and move on.”
The fractured nature of the ending is a shame for all involved, given O’Brien’s spectacular list of highlights.
He was there when Ireland secured their first landmark World Cup win over Pakistan in Jamaica, 2007; his century in Bangalore in 2011 secured a famous win over England at another World Cup; in 2018, he notched Ireland’s first century in Test cricket, again against Pakistan, while he was also on the field for their first Test at Lord’s.
“At the moment 2011 [against England] is still number one,” admits O’Brien when – probably unfairly – asked to pick a favourite. “I think the older I get and the more I look back, to be able to A) play Test cricket and B) score a hundred in Test cricket, that will [eventually] be number one.
“I grew up watching Test cricket, I played Test cricket in the garden with Niall, it was always the purest form of the game.”
The reference to his brother Niall, who has a stellar international record of his own, reflects a career spent largely in familial company.
“It was amazing. To be able to play 12 years with Niall ... we shared three 50-over World Cups, two or three T20 World Cups, it was always pleasing to walk into the changing room and see your brother sitting in the corner.
“Whatever happens, win or lose, you’ve always got one person there that has your back. That was very important for me, and I’m sure for Niall as well.
“From a family point of view having Mum and Dad come to a lot of our games as well was pretty cool. It was very special for the four of us really and our whole family that we had such a good career together.”
