Iain O'Brien could play for Wellington
Former New Zealand fast bowler Iain O'Brien may sign up with Wellington to play cricket in the 2010-11 season. This comes after he faces an uncertain future with his English county Middlesex and could
lose out on his contract.
O’Brien’s problems with his contract began when the English cricket board refused to recognise the New Zealander as a domestic player despite him being married to a British woman.
According to the three-year contract that the pace bowler had signed with Middlesex, if O’Brien did not get British citizenship, Middlesex had the option to end the contract in the second or the third year.
The English board allows only one foreign player in the squad and if O’Brien did not play as a domestic player, he would have to play as a foreign player. Unfortunately for O’Brien, the Middlesex county had already signed up Chris Rogers for the next season
and that could mean that O’Brien will be left with no club to play for.
Now, O’Brien has hired a lawyer to look into his case, but he is keeping his options open. He has had a talk with the Wellington coach Anthony Stuart and confirmed that he could sign up for a contract with
them.
"I love playing for Wellington and certainly love playing cricket at home. If I get a chance to turn out for Petone-Riverside while I'm at home, then even better. I'm not ruling anything out," he said
on a radio program.
Wellington coach Stuart said that O’Brien had shown interest in playing for the New Zealand first class side and added, "If both parties were happy with the situation, then absolutely we'd welcome him back
with open arms."
O’Brien was a New Zealand international and featured in 22 Test matches and ten ODIs. He picked up 73 Test match wickets but announced his retirement from the game to settle down in UK with his wife.
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