William O'Rourke

William Peter O'Rourke is a prominent right-arm fast bowler, who represents New Zealand in international cricket. He was born on August 6, 2001, in Kingston upon Thames, London, England, and plays for Canterbury in domestic cricket.

O’Rourke being 6 feet 4 inches tall, bowling has made rapid progress, helping him to rapidly ascend the ranks to become a pivotal figure in the New Zealand bowling line-up.

Cricket flows in his blood as his father, Paddy O'Rourke, was a fast bowler for Wellington between the 1989- 90 and 1991-92 seasons.

To polish his skills as a cricketer, his parents decided to relocate to Auckland when William was around 5 years old.

He drew inspiration from his father to take up cricket as a career and focus on fast bowling.

In his early career, he played for Auckland age-group teams from the 2017-18 season and then moved to the South Island to attend the University of Canterbury.

O’Rourke commenced his domestic in some fashion. In the 2020-21 season, he was added to the Canterbury A team and claimed 10 wickets in the National Provincial A Tournament.

Working hard constantly, he earned a full domestic contract with the Canterbury Cricket after the 2020–21 season.

On January 3, 2022, against Otago in the Ford Trophy, he made his List A debut, followed by his T20 debut on January 7, against Auckland, and he decided not to press the break. Soon after on March 20, he made his first class debut. 

Every step in O’Rourke’s career has been phenomenal, but particularly highlighting one, his 2022-23 season was just a career boost for him. He secured 12 wickets in 10 appearances becoming the joint-highest wicket-taker for Canterbury in the Super Smash season, helping the team to reach the finals.

In the same season, he led the team bowling attack in the Ford Trophy, bagging 13 wickets in nine matches, including a stunning performance of three wickets conceding 47 runs against Otago, helping the team to qualify for the finals. 

He recorded the second-best bowling figure by a Canterbury player in List A history as he recorded his maiden five-wicket haul against Otago in the Ford Trophy and finished with a figure of 6/20. 

The anticipated call-up occurred in O’Rourke’s life in March 2023, the world found his name in the New Zealand A squad for a first-class series against Australia A. That became the beginning of a milestone in his career.

The paceman was added to the ODI Squad against Bangladesh in December 2023. Eventually, he became the first England-born cricketer to represent New Zealand since Roger Twose after his debut on December 17, 2023. 

In the subsequent month, O’Rourke was named in the Test squad for the series against South Africa. In February 2024, he had a dream debut when he bagged a five-wicket haul in South Africa’s second innings and concluded the match with figures of 9/93 - the best by any Kiwi bowler on a Test debut. 

He made his T20 debut against Pakistan in April 2024 during the tour of Pakistan, participating in three matches and taking four wickets. 

One of his most significant milestones was being named in his first-ever ICC tournament for the New Zealand Squad in the 2025 Champions Trophy. On his first appearance in the ICC event against the host Pakistan, he sensationally bagged three wickets, including a wicket of the opponent skipper Mohammad Rizwan.

O'Rourke's towering stature enables him to extract significant bounce from pitches, a characteristic reminiscent of fellow New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson. Capable of delivering speeds up to 150 km/h, his bowling combines pace with steep bounce, posing substantial challenges to batters.

(As of March 2025)