Peter Connell

Peter Connell (born 13 August 1981) is a New Zealand-born Irish cricketer. An opening bowler, he made his debut for Ireland in 2008, aged 26. He took part in Ireland's successful campaign in the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup. Connell has also represented Ireland in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). In January 2012 he was given a contract with Cricket Ireland.

Peter Connell made his Twenty20 debut on 27 June 2008 in a match for Ireland against Bangladesh A. His three overs conceded twenty runs for no wickets and he opened the bowling with Thinus Fourie. Connell made his first-class debut for Ireland on 9 July 2008 in a match against the Netherlands as part of the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup. Opening the bowling with Thinus Fourie, Connell took a ten-wicket haul, finishing with figures of 10 wickets for 69 runs (10/69) in the match, and also took a hat-trick as Ireland won by an innings and 67 runs. He was the 16th player in the history of first-class cricket to take a hat-trick on debut and the first to do so in an international match. He is also the only player to have taken a first-class hat-trick for Ireland. With 30 first-class wickets for Ireland, Connell is the 16th highest wicket-taker for Ireland. In the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup, Connell was Ireland's leading wicket-taker for the tournament. His haul of 28 wickets from 5 matches, at an average of 11.67, was also the fourth highest total of wickets for that year's tournament and was the best average for bowlers with 10 wickets or more.

Ireland played in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in August 2008. On 2 August, the team played their maiden T20 International, beating Scotland by four wickets; Connell made his T20I debut in the match, along with the rest of the Ireland team. Ireland progressed to the final and ended up sharing the trophy with the Netherlands as the match was rained off. Connell finished the tournament with 6 wickets from 4 matches, at an average of 6.00; he was Ireland's second leading wicket-taker – behind Andre Botha with 8, and tied with Alex Cusack who also had 6 – and was the equal fifth leading wicket-taker in the tournament.