Kent v Ireland

KENT wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien will be hoping his national side won’t be enjoying the luck of the Irish when they take on the county in Monday’s C&G Trophy qualifier in Tunbridge Wells.

O’Brien will undoubtedly feel a slight tug of 'club against country' emotion come the county’s fifth of nine southern conference games, but if a Kent victory means a few flat pints of Guinness come Monday night, then so be it.

The Dublin-born gloveman said: "It’ll be a strange game for me in a few ways, but at the end of the day I’m playing for Kent and they’re my first priority.

"I’m going out there to win 100 per cent for Kent but I’ll also be playing against a lot of old friends and an Irish coach in Adrian Burrell, who has had a massive influence on my career.

"There’s a lot of talent in the Irish side and we’ll have to be at our best not to slip up like Gloucestershire did last month."

Having played with the majority of this Ireland side, O’Brien is well placed to give Kent’s supporters a few pointers as to their players to watch out for come 10.45am on Monday.

He said: "I like the look of Eion Morgan, a young batsman on the staff at Middlesex, who’s in good form.

"The Ireland captain Trent Johnson, who opens the bowling and bats at No.7, also hits a big ball, then of course they have some overseas experience in Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi, who Kent members will know a little bit about.

"Added to that Peter Gillespie is becoming quite a steady batter at No.5 and they’ve also got Andre Botha, a South African who has lived in Ireland for the last 10 years, who will bowl first change and bat at No.4.

"They bat right through to eight or nine, but their bowling isn’t as strong. So I’m hoping we’ll bat first on a good flat wicket at Tunbridge Wells, post 280-plus with me contributing a late 50 to bat them out of the game."