Ireland frustrated by counties

Gary Wilson has been handed the gloves as Ireland's replacement for Niall O'Brien in the Intercontinental Cup final against Canada next week. Northamptonshire would not release O'Brien, so Wilson, who plays for Surrey and has been playing in recent Friends Provident matches, has been called in.

Boyd Rankin's absence, because Derbyshire could not spare him, and Andre Botha's injury are further blows to Ireland's hopes of successfully defending the trophy they won by defeating Kenya at Windhoek in 2005.

Eoin Morgan is, however, available after Middlesex sanctioned his participation. The two other new faces are Thinus Fourie and Roger Whelan, both of whom are medium-fast bowlers with few List A matches under their belts.

Phil Simmons, Ireland's coach, said: "It's unfortunate that we havent got either Boyd or Niall, but we have got a lot of talent and experience in the squad."

The match begins next Thursday, May 22, with Ireland in the stronger position after their World Cup showings and also as Canada haven't even played a game yet since their departure from the tournament on March 22. They have a two-day game scheduled this week, against a select England XI.

Squad Trent Johnston (Capt), Jeremy Bray, Kenny Carroll, Thinus Fourie, Peter Gillespie, Dave Langford-Smith, Kyle McCallan, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O' Brien, William Porterfield, Roger Whelan, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.