IF YOU are to be caught between a rock and a hard place, well then the Granite City of Aberdeen is probably not a bad place to start.
Ireland coach Phil Simmons could not do much about the hand dealt to him there last week as his charges went down to defeats to New Zealand and Scotland in the Tri-Nations series.
Shorn of three of his English county-based players and with Kevin O'Brien and Alex Cusack missing out through injury, Simmons could have gone easy on his young side after they went down to an ODI record 290-run defeat to the Kiwis, followed by a defeat to the auld enemy at Mannonfield.
The fact that Eoin Morgan, Niall O'Brien and William Porterfield scored over 300 runs between them in their County Championship matches didn't help lighten the coach's mood.
Simmons is well aware of the trio's predicament when it comes to putting their professional career ahead of playing for their country at this moment in their careers.
With riches on offer that were previously only the preserve of footballers, cricket, in a short space of time, has become a route to life-long financial stability thanks to the money that has flowed into the game thanks to the Twenty20 revolution.
In Morgan's case, at least, it might stop there, as he is rightly considered among the brightest young talents in the county game, and may yet follow fellow left-hander Ed Joyce into the full England team now that he has qualified through residency. The 21-year-old's unbeaten century against South Africa for Middlesex will not have gone unnoticed.
Even in the knowledge he was without his star turns, last week hurt Simmons, the Trinidad native describing the defeat to the Black Caps as his worst day in cricket coaching.
He didn't spare the players either, with a few home truths being aired. "You've got to say things as you see it, sometimes you have to be harsh and players have to be pulled aside and told. And last week was one of those times to be harsh, that's the way it is," said Simmons.
It's far from the ideal scenario that Ireland had to line-up against one of the world's finest one-day sides without their best players. Not that Scotland fared much better, losing by eight wickets after being bowled out for just 101 by New Zealand. Both outcomes will not sit well with the ICC, who are bound to take notice of such one-sided results against arguably the two best Associate nations.
There was better news later in the week, when Simmons was able to name his county players in his squad for next month's Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers in Belfast.
A top-order batting line-up including Morgan, Porterfield, Andre Botha, the O'Brien brothers and Trent Johnston, will see Ireland enter the competition as overwhelming favourites.
The ICC-contrived situation that saw Zimbabwe pull out of next year's finals in England means that three places will be available to the six teams in action at Stormont.
Barring disaster, Ireland can plan for their second appearance on the world stage in a format that looks like suiting them even better than the 50-over game.
Simmons knows his full-strength side will allow Ireland to be, at the very least, competitive against the top sides in the world. Without them, he might have to suffer a few more days in a hard place.
