Kevin O'Brien joins West Indies coaching staff for Ireland series
The former all-rounder, best remembered for the 50-ball century that stunned England at the 2011 World Cup in Bengaluru, enjoyed a 15-year international career across all three formats with the Ireland.
He will now bring local expertise to head coach Daren Sammy's set-up for games at Clontarf on May 21, 23 and 25. Kevin O'Brien. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
The West Indies go straight from Ireland into a three-match series in England, in what will be Harry Brook's first assignment since replacing Jos Buttler as white-ball captain.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Infamous ‘Hand of God' shirt from England clash with Maradona up for auction for £300k along with Pele World Cup medal
THE England jersey worn by Peter Shilton during the infamous Hand of God 1986 World Cup quarter-final is going under the hammer. Shilton's grey-and-blue No 1 goalkeeper top, Advertisement 2 Peter Shilton's jersey from the 'Hand of God' moment is up for sale at auctino Credit: PA:Press Association 2 It could fetch as much as £300,000 Credit: PA It is part of a treasure trove of football memorabilia to be sold on behalf of Graham Budd Auctions during the 2026 World Cup finals in North and Central America. Other items available to buy in 12 months' time include Brazilian legend Gordon Banks' 1966 World Cup winners' medal from the 4-2 final triumph over West Germany at Wembley could fetch between £220,000 and 300,000. The No 7 long-sleeved match shirt worn by the late Alan Ball in that clash is priced at £150k-£200k. Advertisement READ MORE IN FOOTBALL And a complete set of 1966 World Cup ticket stubs for all 32 matches has been valued at £7,000 to £10,000. England's 125-cap record-holder Shilton, 75, sold his kit to a private collector following their controversial finals exit. A special launch event in Manchester takes place today and several items from the collection will be showcased at Premier League and Championship grounds throughout the year. David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at Graham Budd Auctions, said: 'Items like this don't come up for sale normally. Advertisement Most read in Football BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS 'The impact of Peter Shilton — and other greats like Pele — has been felt by the generations of footballers and fans that have followed, on an international scale. 'Pele remains the youngest World Cup goalscorer of all time. Neymar SENT OFF for attempting to score Maradona-style Hand of God goal ours after old club PSG win Champions League 'The infamous 1986 Hand of God quarter-final is a match of huge cultural and political significance. Advertisement 'It's a privilege to have them pass through our hands. 'As part of this year-long consignment drive, we'll visit the clubs that hosted 1966 World Cup matches, where the public will get a chance to view some of these iconic lots. 'Bring along your own memorabilia to be valued by our specialist team. 'You never know what treasure you might already have at home.' Advertisement The late Diego Maradona scored two goals — the first with his hand, the second with a sensational 40-yard dribble — as Argentina eliminated Bobby Robson's Three Lions from the '86 finals. Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser failed to spot the deliberate handball by the cheating Argies captain — who died aged 60 in November 2020 — and the controversy still rages. Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge nabbed Maradona's blue Argentina match shirt following the 2-1 Three Lions defeat. He stored it in his attic before it sold for £7.1MILLION — the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever. Advertisement
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Tipperary's performance in All-Ireland final was best I have ever seen – Liam Cahill has restored pride in the jersey
HATS OFF to Liam Cahill — that second half was the best Tipperary performance I've ever seen. Pride has been restored in the blue and gold in serious style. 3 Tipperary won the All-Ireland hurling title for the first time in six years Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 3 Babs Keating called it the best performance he had ever seen from Tipperary Credit: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE And there are In that ruthless second period, Tipp did to Cork what Cork have been doing to us in recent times. The Rebels mauled us in Munster last year, beat us in the league final this season and sent us packing by 4-27 to 0-24 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in April. Read More on GAA But Tipp left them absolutely shell-shocked in a There will be some scenes when they arrive back in Thurles with the Liam MacCarthy — given that the team looked Fair play to Cahill for sticking at it. I've been that soldier and it can be an incredibly unforgiving place. He got them into serious shape over the winter and that all came to fruition in this campaign. Most read in GAA Hurling Drawing with And they bounced back from a big reality check against Cork on Leeside to win six matches on the bounce and land the big one. Liam Cahill speaks to RTE after Tipperary GAA win All-Ireland final They looked beaten against The same thing happened yesterday when Cork went 1-16 to 0-13 up at half-time before a blue and gold surge like we've never seen before. It was a simply wonderful performance from a brilliant group of players who hadn't been doing themselves justice. A new approach was needed with some new faces. They went back to basics and winning the Under-20 All-Ireland under Brendan Cummins gave them a huge lift. A rising tide lifts all boats and four of those players were in Liam's squad yesterday — Oisín O'Donoghue and Paddy McCormack on the bench, while Sam O'Farrell has nailed down his jersey at wing-forward. And what do we say about Darragh McCarthy? I questioned his discipline when he was sent off twice this summer . And I questioned if he was the right man to take Tipp's frees. But he silenced all that on the biggest day of all. He only had one wide, scored eight frees and took his penalty brilliantly to send Tipp six ahead — and they never looked back. Tipp had nine first-half wides but it didn't put them off. There was no waste after that, they grew with every ball and their confidence hit the roof as soon as John McGrath scored that first goal. 3 Darragh McCarthy got 1-13 in the All-Ireland final Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile There was a bit of luck involved but McGrath made his own luck and it summed him up as a player. He was always on alert for the ball to drop and that's exactly what happened when Patrick Collins went for that long ball lumped in by Jake Morris. McGrath also won the penalty which McCarthy scored after Eoin Downey picked up his second yellow card. And he all but put the game to bed when he flicked Robert Doyle's ball into the net on the hour mark. Ronan Maher was absolutely immense too and put in a real captain's display. He controlled the Tipp defence and made life so easy for his team-mates around him. His judgment and anticipation were superb and he also man-marked Cork's dangerman Brian Hayes and held him to a point. Our midfield thrived as well, as O'Farrell switched to partner the brilliant Conor Stakelum. Stakelum's semi-final performance saw him keep his jersey. Picking him between him and Alan Tynan must have been a very tough call. Willie Connors was tasked with nullifying Declan Dalton and did that brilliantly — and Darragh Fitzgibbon was halted on many of his forward runs that have made him such a threat for Cork. I tipped the Rebels to win in yesterday's column but that prediction did come with a health warning. Collins was responsible for both of McGrath's goals and seriously malfunctioned on his second-half puckouts. Ref Liam Gordon had an OK game and the two yellows for Downey were probably justified — but going to Hawk-Eye four times in an All-Ireland final raises questions about the quality of his umpires. In fairness to the Cork fans, a lot of them came up to me and congratulated me in the stand at the final whistle, despite how hurt they were by what they'd witnessed. For a proud hurling county, to be still waiting for so long to reach the promised land isn't easy. You'd have to feel sorry for Pat Ryan given the year he's had personally with the tragic death of his brother, Ray, in March and all the pressure that was on him coming into the game. The expectancy on Leeside was massive and they looked certain to end their 20-year famine. They won the ticket race as well given the amount of red at Croker but many of them hit the road as soon as McGrath scored his second goal. Tipp know the talent that is coming but Cork's Under-20s were beaten in the Munster semi-finals by Clare and their minors were beaten by the Banner in the All-Ireland semis. Patrick Horgan's quest for glory has ended in failure again and at 37, it's hard to see him coming back next year. But the joy on the stands when 'Slievenamon' came on after the game was truly special. Tipp no longer fear the Rebels — and thanks to Liam Cahill, the pride is back in that jersey.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Sharlene Mawdsley ‘proud of you every day' as she pays emotional tribute to Tipperary GAA boyfriend Michael Breen
SHARLENE MAWDSLEY paid an emotional tribute to her boyfriend Michael Breen after he helped Tipperary win the All-Ireland. Liam Cahill's men produced a 4 Michael Breen celebrated winning the All-Ireland with girlfriend Sharlene Mawdsley Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 4 Mawdsley paid tribute to him on Instagram Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 4 John Delaney, Assistant Treasurer, Tipperary County Board, with Michael Breen and Sharlene Mawdsley Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile 4 Irish Olympian, Sharlene Mawdsley, partner of Tipperary's Michael Breen, and Ali Smith, right, celebrate with the Liam MacCarthy cup Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile After the game, Breen went over to the stands with the Liam MacCarthy trophy to And on Instagram, the Irish Olympian paid an emotional tribute to the Tipperary corner-back. Alongside photos of the happy couple after the game, she wrote: "Proud of you every day, but that little bit prouder today" Fans flooded the comment section to praise the sporting super couple, who were together at the Grand Hotel for the post-match celebrations. Read More on GAA One fan wrote: "I caaant with you two" while Mawdsley's fellow Olympian Sophie Becker posted: "Awhhh stop" A third follower commented: "Love this ❤️❤️ UP TIPP , What a match" and a fourth posted: "Ireland's sporting power couple confirmed" A sixth said: "Awww I was waiting on this photo all day, didn't disappoint xx" A seventh said: "Ireland's powerhouse couple" and an eighth said: "Two f***in' amazing SuperStars!!!" Most read in GAA Hurling The all-star couple have been an since shared a pic of themselves at . But they have known each other for a whole lot longer judging by a precious Liam Cahill speaks to RTE after Tipperary GAA win All-Ireland final The 26-year-old shared a photo collage of the couple, including a throwback photo. The pic is an eye-catching one, as it showed the 2024 Olympian with brown hair, with the Newport AC export best known as a blonde. Conveniently, the Ballina man's birthday also fell on Sharlene's grandmother's 90th birthday which yielded a similarly emotional post. The photograph which signalled that they had gone But that wasn't the first time she'd been in attendance to cheer on Liam Cahill's side this year. In the wake of the sprinter's relationship update, her previous matchday experience makes even more sense even leaving aside that she is a Tipperary native herself. She Since going official, Mawdsley and Breen have been on Instagram. He previously The Premier hurler has also been a And when she was Mawdsley After the semi-final victory, the corner-back posted a photo on Instagram of them all smiles. Breen captioned it: "First time in Croke Park is it?" To which the sprinter replied: "And not my last!"
