Niall O'Brien: AB de Villiers, Roy Keane and a date with South Africa

Niall O’Brien 16:07 02/03/2015
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  • Were under no illusions ahead of the South Africa game, we know it’s going to be very difficult but we have confidence in our ability.

    South Africa are in red hot form after their incredible win over West Indies and when we line-up in Canberra on Tuesday it’ll be our toughest game to date. But we’re well prepared for the challenge.

    In any match, every batsman is vulnerable in the first 10-15 balls. We’ve got to make sure that when a new batsman comes to the crease we put the ball in the right place from the start, and when the chance comes we take it. Were under no illusions, we know it’s going to be very difficult but we have confidence in our ability.

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    I met AB de Villiers in the hotel on Sunday morning. I said, “fantastic stuff” after his impressive unbeaten 162 against the Windies. He’s one of the best, if not the best batsman in the world. He goes about his business and it’s great to see such a nice person like him doing well. To be honest, I’m just delighted that it took him two extra balls to get to his 100 so he didn’t beat Kevin (O’Brien)’s record [100 off 50 balls against England in the 2011 Cricket World Cup].

    We had a team meeting on Sunday morning. The main area we need to improve for the South Africa game is our bowling. We’ve been bowling very poorly towards the back end of the innings and as a result were getting hit for a lot of runs. We need to come up with a few plans and try to execute them better than before.

    The conditions aren’t conducive to low-scoring games, especially with the type of bowling attack we have. It’s hard to bowl fast so we use a bit more guile and skill in order to get the wickets early, and keep the score to a reasonable total; then it’s up to the batsmen again.

    After beating the Windies, there was huge expectation leading into the UAE game. Everyone expected us to win, and it doesn’t happen that easily. We fielded really well, but we were a bit sluggish with the bat.

    Celebrating with fans after our win over the UAE in Brisbane.

    I’m getting a ribbing from the lads for reviewing my LBW. I blame Andy Balbirnie because he’s the one who told me to review the decision. I thought I was out so I was prepared to walk off but Balbo said “no, no, that didn’t turn, that might be missing leg”. I went with the review and it did turn and hit in middle, so it was a bad review. As I left the field, the umpire Nigel Long, a former teammate of mine at Kent, said: “You owe me a beer for questioning my judgments.” That night we celebrated with friends at O’Malley’s pub in Brisbane. We have enough bad days in cricket so it’s important to enjoy the victories.

    The journey from Brisbane to Canberra is a long 1,200km trip down south. When we arrived in the capital on Saturday, 12 of the team played a round at Federal Golf Club. Gary Wilson and Matthew Mott beat Kev and Ed Joyce in a thrilling finish on the 18th hole.  I had a bad day at the office. I nearly crashed my golf car on the front nine and I thought I was bitten by a snake at one stage when I was looking for my ball in the rough!

    That evening it was great to catch up with Adrian Birrell. He’s South Africa’s assistant coach and a former Ireland coach (2002-2007) who I played under for a long time. Adrian was the man to really get the cricket juggernaut on its journey in Ireland and we haven’t looked back since.

    The games from here on in will come thick and fast. We have four in three weeks. Between the travelling and the practice were trying to take it easy as possible. I’m reading Roy Keane’s autobiography at the moment in my down time. I’m a big fan of Keano and some people seem to think I’m a bit like the Roy Keane of the Irish cricket team as I stand up for what I believe in. Like him, I’m always looking to be as influential as I can on the field and do the best for my team-mates – hopefully that will be the same again against South Africa.  

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