England will not be the only shadow side taking the field for Ireland's inaugural one-day international contest today.
While England will be bereft of half a dozen of their full-strength squad at Stormont, including Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff, hosts Ireland are also missing key personnel.
In different circumstances Ireland may have included English-qualified Ed Joyce alongside brother Dominick, but the pair are on course to set a rare feat of playing on opposite sides in a full international - providing Ed recovers from a stomach upset.
Already without their most high-profile player, Ireland have also been denied the chance to field Eoin Morgan, of Middlesex, and Kent's Niall O'Brien, due to county commitments.
'We are disappointed that players are playing for their counties and foregoing a one-day international, especially the first one for the country and against our neighbours, probably the biggest one we could have,' admitted coach Adrian Birrell.
'But we have come to understand that they are full-time cricketers and have to forge a career for themselves.'
Birrell, who hails from Port Elizabeth in South Africa, has already witnessed one of cricket's biggest ever career choices first hand: Kevin Pietersen's defection from South Africa to England.
'I coached teams against him and I was an under-19 and South Africa schools selector when he was a young player,' said Birrell.
'Obviously he saw a career in England that he probably couldn't see at the time in South Africa. It was a huge loss for South African cricket but he made a decision and followed his heart.'
Now World Cup minnows Ireland cannot wait to lock horns with one-day international player of the year Pietersen and an English side led by Andrew Strauss.
Although they compete against some of the world's best talent in the C&G Trophy - their struggles have borne just one win all season - the chance to play at international level has invigorated the Ireland camp.
'There's a real buzz,' said Australian-raised captain Trent Johnston. 'It was hard to keep the players' minds on their jobs on Sunday when we were playing Sussex because we knew there was this game against England two days later.
'We are jumping out of our skins to play, and to be part of Ireland's biggest day in cricket history will be awesome.'
