Niall O'Brien free to play for Ireland

Niall O'Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman, has been cleared by Northants to play for Ireland during the Friends Provident Trophy.

"He wants to play for Ireland in the FP Trophy and his request has been accepted," an ECB spokesman told the BBC. "At the end of this year he qualifies for England, so he won't be able to do the same thing next year."

O' Brien can still play for Northants in the competition even though he has already played for Ireland. However, it only works that way round, bizarrely enough: once a player has played for their county in the 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 their county in the competition. Eoin Morgan, for example, played a few games for Ireland last year, and then also played for Middlesex.