CHRISTMAS came early yesterday for Irish cricketer Josh Little after the 23-year old fast bowler was bought at auction for €460,000 by Indian Premier League team Gujarat Titans.

He’s the first current Ireland player to be signed to play in the lucrative league, with Eoin Morgan playing for 10 seasons after he switched to England in 2009. Little said he was ‘chuffed to bits’ when news came through from the Kochi auction. ‘It’s been a whirlwind couple of days and it’s been an emotional day,’ he added.

He paid tribute to Niall O’Brien, the ex-Ireland player who is now a leading agent.

‘Having Niall as my agent has been such a great support as he knows the landscape and is so well connected,’ he said. ‘Playing international cricket on the world stage has given me the platform to showcase my skills and I am grateful to Cricket Ireland for supporting my dreams of playing in the IPL.’

England all-rounder Sam Curran broke the IPL record when the Punjab Kings paid €2.1million for his services in the two-month tournament that starts in mid-March. The previous record figure was also broken by Australian all-rounder Cameron Green (€1.99m) and England captain Ben Stokes (€1.85m). His predecessor Joe Root was sold for €100,000.