While his county colleague at Kent CCC, Geraint Jones was busily preparing to travel to Zimbabwe and South Africa, the other Kent wicketkeeper, Niall O’Brien of Ireland was travelling in a different direction. Niall went back to his roots, spending a well-deserved break at home with his family in Sandymount, Dublin.

However, it was not all rest for Niall as his time in Dublin allowed him renew acquaintances with National Coach, Adi Birrell and members of the Irish Squad preparing for the ICC Trophy in 2005.
Home Club, Railway Union were not slow to spot an opportunity and very shortly after arriving back in Dublin, sister Ciara, the Irish Hockey International, had Niall assisting every Monday with coaching hockey with the boys from Willow Park in Blackrock.

After hockey each Monday, it was a quick dash to St. Conleth’s College in Ballsbridge where Niall conducted a Winter Cricket Coaching Programme for the U-11 and U-13 players from Railway Union over eight weeks.

The Programme was modelled on the same lines as the LCU Winter Programme for younger underage players, with a strong emphasis on skill development as being a key component in training sound cricketers of the future. Basic bowling, batting and fielding skills were tutored and practised time and time again. Mastering basic skills at a young age will set the foundation for future success and enjoyment within the sport for these players.

Each session finished with the obligatory ‘game’ with Niall and Kenny also getting involved. Needless to say, these were keenly contested and parents were often left waiting until a satisfactory outcome in the game could be contrived.

David Carroll, Club Youth Representative from Railway Union was delighted with the response from players and parents to the Winter Programme and paid tribute to the quality of the coaching over the eight weeks. “We were delighted that a player of Niall’s calibre conducted our Winter Programme and it was great to see him put so much back into his own Club.”

Niall returned to Kent in early January to meet up with new Director of Cricket, Graham Ford and prepare for the challenging season ahead. Young players back in Dublin will be looking to follow Niall’s season with interest, while he himself will no doubt be interested to find out if all the time and effort spent during the wet nights from October to Christmas will pay dividends at Park Avenue and other venues in 2005.

As Niall was heading back to Kent, younger brother Kevin was setting off for a six-week stint at the Cricket Academy in Port Elizabeth University, South Africa.

In the busy Sandymount household, Sister Ciara having assisted Railway Union knock out Pegagus H.C., Cup holders and favourites from the Irish Senior Cup, embarked on a week-long training camp with the Irish Squad in Spain where she was handed the captain’s armband for the warm-up matches versus Holland.

Above: Brian Lara joins in the action with Niall O’Brien at West Indies v Kent match in 2004.