Considering that more than half the Ireland team had less than 40 international appearances between them, their performance against Nottinghamshire last Sunday was an encouraging start to the 2008 Friends Provident Trophy campaign.

The even harder work starts this weekend with a double header away to Leicestershire tomorrow and Northamptonshire on Monday. As a much more experienced Ireland team found to their cost last season, on their own pitches counties are an even more difficult proposition.

It is one thing keeping out the Nottinghamshire bowling attack - the best in the country - for 45 overs on a slow, low Clontarf track, but quite another fending off the county professionals at Grace Road and the County Ground.

A failure to rotate the strike in the early stages and batsmen getting in, and then getting out without going past 30, leaves plenty of room for improvement over a couple of days that will probably determine Ireland's success rate this year in the competition.

National Coach Phil Simmons is on the record as saying he will be happy to lose the remaining seven games if “we play good cricket and remain competitive”. A 56 runs opening game defeat was not close enough but with the bowlers performing somewhere near their best and the majority of the batsmen showing their potential in front of a live television audience, it gives Simmons and new captain William Porterfield something to build on.

The absence of the injured Andre Botha for the remainder of the competition robs the batting line-up of their most experienced performer although they will not miss his runs. The North County all rounder scored 139 in one innings against Hertfordshire in 2003, but it has taken him another 12 innings against the counties to score exactly that number of runs since, last week's 21 against Notts being his second highest score.

Whether his replacement, Ravi Rampaul, can be relied upon to average 11.6 over the next seven games may be asking too much but hopefully his bowling will ensure Botha is not missed.

The 23 year old West Indian pace bowler makes his debut as Ireland's overseas professional tomorrow with Simmons saying of his Trinidad compatriot: “He's played 30 one-day internationals and you don't do that unless you can play a bit.

“He's a very useful bowler, with plenty of pace and movement. He has a passion for the game and loves to play. He's also a competitive type of player, which I like. He'll bring a lot to the dressing room.”

As long as he brings more to the field of play than South Africa's Nantie Hayward did last year then Simmons will be happy - although it will have to be a lot more if he is to inspire he new colleagues to a first victory in 13 attempts against a county.

The last time Ireland played a one-day game in Leicester was in 1994 when a certain Phil Simmons was making his debut for the county. A patient 64, from 95 balls, with nine fours and a six against an attack which consisted of Eddie Moore, Garfield Harrison, opening the bowling, Conor Hoey, Junior McBrine, Decker Curry, Alan Lewis and Justin Benson will not go down as his most memorable innings but what Ireland would give for one of their batsmen to repeat their coach's debut knock, 14 years on.

Then it will be up to Rampaul, Phil Eaglestone, Kevin O'Brien, Alex Cusack, Thinus Fourie and Kyle McCallan to bowl Ireland to that elusive victory.

Immediately after the match, the Ireland squad will then head south to Northampton for their game at the County Ground on Monday when Niall O'Brien is expected to play against his brother and Ireland.

Last weekend, he was involved in Northants' thrilling opening game in the competition when 590 runs were scored, O'Brien scoring 23 as his side chased down Warwickshire's imposing 293. It promises to be another mountainous task for the Ireland bowlers.

Ireland (from) W Porterfield, R Strydom, P Stirling, A White, K O'Brien, A Cusack, G Wilson, K McCallan, T Fourie, R Rampaul, P Eaglestone, J Hall, G Kidd.