da realsbet： Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman, will play for Ireland during the Friends Provident Trophy
Cricinfo staff03-May-2007Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman, has been cleared byNorthants to play for Ireland during the Friends Provident Trophy.”He wants to play for Ireland in the FP Trophy and his request hasbeen accepted,” an ECB spokesman told the BBC. “At the end of thisyear he qualifies for England, so he won’t be able to do the samething next year.”O’ Brien can still play for Northants in the competition even thoughhe has already played for Ireland. However, it only works that wayround, bizarrely enough: once a player has played for their county inthe competition, they can’t play for their country.Irish and Scottish players were given special dispensations last year- they can play for their countries until they have played for theircounty in the competition. Eoin Morgan, for example, played a fewgames for Ireland last year, and then also played for Middlesex.