O’BRIEN BIRTHDAY BLUES

THE unceremonious dumping of Kevin O’Brien took a new turn yesterday when the record cap holder discovered on his 38th birthday that he is not among the 19 Ireland players who have been centrally-contracted for the next one or two years.

O’Brien was controversially dropped from the Ireland squad that toured Florida and Jamaica at Christmas and finished runners-up in last month’s World Cup qualifiers, despite being second highest T20 run scorer behind Paul Stirling through 2021.

Now, despite words of encouragement from chair of selectors Andy White, it looks as though the 389-cap veteran who has been an icon during Ireland’s journey to the top table of world cricket and arguably his country’s greatest player will not pull on the green again.

“Kevin knows that the door is open, and he is still on the selectors’ radar,” White said. “He has made it clear he has the desire to stake a claim for a recall, and we look forward to seeing him back in action at the inter-pro level come May.”

If the decision to jettison O’Brien has been made on age then it’s hard to justify the one-year contract handed to his contemporary and former skipper William Porterfield.

If it’s for financial reasons then the retention of seamer Peter Chase, who hasn’t represented Ireland since before the pandemic, is also puzzling and inconsistent.

Either way it’s shoddy treatment of such a great servant and it can only be hoped that Cricket Ireland can reach an accommodation whereby O’Brien can bow out with the fanfare he deserves - perhaps in one of the T20 games against India in June.

Meanwhile, former Internationals Gary Wilson and Ryan Eagleson have been added to the men’s senior coaching team, and will have key roles in helping new head coach Heinrich Malan settle in.

Two-year central contracts: Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

One-year contracts: Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, William Porterfield, Ben White.