KENT wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien tried his best to be diplomatic, but it clearly hurt him to miss Ireland’s inaugural One-Day International against England in Stormont on Tuesday.

Instead of playing his part in Irish cricket history and appearing alongside his brother, 22-year-old all-rounder Kevin for the first time, O’Brien the gloveman was appearing in industrial Teesside in front of a paltry three-figure crowd in Stockton on Tees.

And while his brother was dismissing Andrew Strauss for next to nothing, so Niall was preparing to bat on a two-paced club pitch of uncertain bounce in the North East. Not surprisingly he looked glum.

He said: "It’s a very difficult call for me and I’ve tried to stay out of the argument as much as I can.

"I’ve left it to my agent, Kent’s chief executive Paul Millman and the Irish Cricket Union to negotiate as much release to play for Ireland as they can.

"My agent raised it with the club in November while I was playing and coaching over in Australia and at that stage it was okay for me to go and play against England.

"The understanding was that Paul Dixey should have finished his examinations by then, I would be released for Ireland and Paul would play against Durham. But sadly Paul’s exam schedule changed and it didn’t quite work out.

"Clearly Kent are my employers and I understand that, for the majority of the season, they rightly get first call, but on an occasion like this one, this is such a big game for Ireland, then I feel it would have been appropriate for me to play."

Though sad to miss out on Ireland’s big day, O’Brien is also disappointed that his country was made to go into Tuesday’s Stormont match with a weakened side.

While England coach Duncan Fletcher can withdraw his players from county cricket at the drop of a hat, the same luxury is not afforded to Ireland coach Adrian Birrell, indeed the opposite is true.

In effect, Ireland, and the lesser-known ICC affiliate nations, are all being asked to play on a far from level playing field.

O’Brien added: "It’s a high profile game, our first ever official ODI and may well have been the biggest game me or the other Ireland lads may ever have got to play in, so yes it was disappointing to miss out."