Quite the talent
William O’Donnell is a young batting all-rounder who seems destined for the big time. A tall, powerful batter and right-arm off-spinner, O’Donnell has already represented the Auckland Aces in both red and white-ball cricket and has been earmarked for high honours with selection for the New Zealand XI side that played against the touring Sri Lankans in December 2018.
It’s in the blood
Cricket is in the O’Donnell blood – Will’s father is long-standing Aces coach, Mark O’Donnell, whilst brother Rob is an established Auckland batter.
The younger brother stepped up to the Aces set-up in November 2018, hitting 48 on his List A debut against Canterbury. He struck notable scores of 22 and 52* against a full-strength Sri Lankan attack in December, before making his Plunket Shield debut in March 2019, hitting a high of 26 and taking his maiden wicket against Otago (Jan 2020).
He played 2 further List A matches (26 v ND, 18 v CD), then a second first-class match (0, 17 v Wellington) to round out the 2019/20 season.
An All-Round Ace
The talented all-rounder was rewarded with an Aces debut courtesy of his run and wicket-taking exploits for Takapuna in the Auckland Premier Men’s Competition.
Since the 2015/16 season, O’Donnell has racked up over 3,000 runs averaging in the mid-40s, alongside 50 plus wickets at 25 (in One and Two-Day cricket).
He has struck 10 centuries, including a double (230*) during the 2018/29 season. His stats are on the rise, with season tallies of 573 runs at 47.75 (2016/17 – Two Day); 430 runs at 53.75 (2017/18 – One Day); 295 runs at 73.75 (2018/19 – Two Day); and 332 runs at 53.67 / 391 runs at 55.86 (2019/20 – Two Day / One Day).
With the ball, his off-spin has captured wicket tallies of 30 wickets at 18.30 and 23 wickets at 26.09 across all formats over the past two seasons.
O’Donnell signs with Three Bridges
O’Donnell, who holds a UK Ancestry Visa, has been awarded his first Auckland Aces contract ahead of the 2020/21 season.
He is hoping to cement his spot in the Aces top-order before embarking on a season with Sussex Premier outfit Three Bridges in 2021, following several stints with Norwich previously (2016-18 – 3,121 runs at 51.16 and 98 wickets at 22.06). During his time abroad, the all-rounder has represented the UK Armed Forces and the Kent / Essex 2nd XI’s.
A high-class prospect and someone that is eager to impress for his newly adopted club next summer.
