Mitch O'Brien taken to hospital after suffering with heat stroke during St Patrick's v North Albury

O'Brien, who came in to bat at No.3, faced 86 balls in temperatures approaching 35C with Patties chasing a victory target of 212 to beat North Albury in their preliminary final.

He made a valuable 43 runs but was taken unwell after leaving the field and going for a shower.

Paramedics arrived at Xavier High School to assess O'Brien, who left the ground in an ambulance.

Patties captain Dean Nicholson, who was batting at the time, admitted there had been concerns for his team-mate.

"Carla Hensel is a doctor so she was in there to sort him out and help him through that," Nicholson said.

"He was cramping heaps so they had to take him in to put him on a drip."

O'Brien's exertions were not in vain as St Patrick's won the game in the final over to reach the provincial grand final.

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Nicholson explained how O'Brien had worked his way back into the A-grade this season having originally planned time away from cricket this summer.

"At the start of the year, Mitch wasn't playing, he was going to focus on playing a bit of golf and spending more time with his wife Grace and his young boy Max," Nicholson said.

"Four or five rounds in, he got itchy feet and wanted to come back.

"But if you do that at St Pat's, you've got to earn your spot.

"His first game was in C1, he did that, played B-grade the next week, hit a 90 in B-grade and came back into A-grade on form.

"That's a testament to not only Mitch going through the ranks but it's a testament to where we are as a club.

"It's not 'you're an A-grade player, you come straight back into the side,' it's 'you weren't here for pre-season, you didn't do what you needed to, so you've got to go through the ranks.'"

O'Brien hit 47 in his first game back and went on to make a half-century against North Albury in round 20.

If declared fit for the grand final, O'Brien will go in having scored 149 runs in his last four innings.

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