Stirling is unlikely to be offered an overseas player contract from 2020

Angus Fraser, the Middlesex director of cricket, says that Ireland players can not expect to get special treatment to allow them to play county cricket.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it,” Fraser said. “You are either an international side or you are not. And if you are an international side, why should you be treated differently to Zimbabwe or West Indies?”

The former England bowler has backed plans to classify those who represent Ireland as overseas players in English domestic cricket from 2019.

Fraser accepts that Irish players face a difficult choice from 2019, but says that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is right to insist that Ireland face the same regulations as other Full Member countries.

“I know some of