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Iain O'Brien Retires

BoyBrumby

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Always thought he was rather shabbily treated by the ECB. In the years leading up to his relocation we had literally dozens of carpet-bagging Saffers on the staffs of various counties as "domestics" (the majority of whom had nothing like his international record) and because the board belatedly tightened up the regs a chap married to a UK citizen couldn't get a gig.

Anyway, always comes across as an absolute sweetheart in interviews and wish him all the best.
 
straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
IOB can be proud of what he achieved. Should patent the

Iain O'Brien three-step process to turn yourself from an NZ domestic trundler into international quality fast bowler

Would make millions. replace 'NZ' with 'Indian'. No-one else in recent memory has managed it, which probably highlights how difficult this is and how much hard work and sacrifice is involved. Andy McKay seems to have completed step 1 - train really hard and pick up 5-10 km/h - but fallen over at step 2 - still have some control over where the ball is going.

Will be good to still be able to hear or read what O'Brien has to say, as it's usually something interesting.
 
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S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
McKay isn't a great example, he was probably quicker than he is now when he was breaking into the Auckland side in his mid to late 20s. He was absolute lightning but sprayed it all over the show, way more than now.
 
straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
SteveNZ said:
McKay isn't a great example, he was probably quicker than he is now when he was breaking into the Auckland side in his mid to late 20s. He was absolute lightning but sprayed it all over the show, way more than now.
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Oh ok, I stand corrected :)
 
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Never mind friend, this is about Obba.

Get rid of Doull, bring in Obba. Knows more about bowling than that ND bogan ever has.
 
Howsie

Howsie

International Captain
Flem274* said:
Did everything that was asked of him. Removing his disastrous first four tests, he averages exactly 30 irrc, which is solid in any era. Why do you think he is overrated?
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Because the guy had one good year in test cricket where he beat up on Bangladesh and the Windies in New Zealand but other than that was basically horrible. Even in his last season in 09 he averaged over 40 with the ball and look at all the hoopla he got when he retired, you'd think New Zealand had lost another Shane Bond or something.
 
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HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Howsie said:
Because the guy had one good year in test cricket where he beat up on Bangladesh and the Windies in New Zealand but other than that was basically horrible. Even in his last season in 09 he averaged over 40 with the ball and look at all the hoopla he got when he retired, you'd think New Zealand had lost another Shane Bond or something.
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Strangely, I recall him bowling pretty bloody well in an otherwise atrocious New Zealand tour of Australia in 2008 and also doing pretty bloody well touring England in the same year, but yeah, feel free to pick and choose what supports your argument and leave out the bits that don't.

So, he didn't do well in Sri Lanka. Hardly the first guy to fail on his first tour to the subcontinent and as I recall, he compared reasonably well to Chris Martin and Sri Lanka's best performers were the spinners and some medium pacer whose name escapes me. He then got torn a new one by India but his last series against Pakistan was pretty bloody decent. I think you're completely wrong.
 
Mike5181

Mike5181

International Captain
Yeah, i remember him bowling reasonably well against Australia and he churned out good performances in all the series he played against England, Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh. He struggled against Sri Lanka and India but he still outbowled everyone we had from 2007-2009 bar Shane Bond who only played something like two test matches during that period.
 
Hurricane

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
@Heef nothing to do with this thread but can't find the your cricket season thread atm - what is 20 20 like to play at club level - what is a good score for a team, for an individual - is it good for bowlers.
 
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