Date of birth: 27 January 2001, Tauranga, New Zealand
Nottinghamshire First-Class debut: 4 April 2025 v Durham
Despite being born across the Tasman Sea on the north coast of New Zealand, O’Neill is very much built in the full-throated Australian mould, as a bustling quick bowler who is also a more-than-capable lower-order batter.
He had not just cricket, but all sport, in his blood from the very beginning, having played a Melbourne club game aged 13 in which he and his father Pete both hit centuries, while also remaining an adept Australian rules footballer.
However, upon being noticed while playing for Melbourne CC by Adam Dale and Cameron White, both major trophy winners with Australia and veterans of a combined 174 international appearances, O’Neill’s cricket career took off.
Just one season after a starring campaign for Melbourne in the Victorian Premier League that saw him average 42.33 with the bat and 19.31 with the ball, O’Neill made his First-Class debut for Victoria, making current Australian Test international Travis Head his maiden wicket.
Over the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Sheffield Shield campaigns, he took 85 wickets at exactly 19.00 apiece, earning back-to-back Bill Lawry Medals, awarded to the Victorian First-Class player of the season, as well as being crowned Shield Player of the Tournament in the latter season.