O'Brien was making his first and last appearance for Anston, in their Division One fixture at home to Caythorpe II, and although the visitors went away with a 20-point win, Anston vice captain Mark Parkinson says it was a great day.

"He fitted in with the team really well," he said.

"The bar takings were up, there were far more people watching and the atmosphere around the ground was excellent."

Parkinson said that O'Brien was happy to be a part of the team and, although Anston were on the losing end, he impressed with bat and ball.

"He took a couple of wickets and to be fair he saved us with the bat because our performance wasn't as good as it should have been."

"But he was happy to give advice and he stayed around for a drink in the bar for a couple of hours afterwards."

O'Brien tasted international cricket this summer, taking eight wickets in the npower Test Series between New Zealand and England.

Anston had special first team shirts made for the occasion and arranged new sponsorship deals to cover the Wellington native's wage bill.

The loss left Anston 32 points behind second-placed Caythorpe but they'll be looking to get back to winning ways away at Mansfield Hosiery Mills II on Saturday