Hampshire's Friends Provident Trophy hopes suffered a blow when their game against Ireland was abandoned this afternoon.

It is sunny today in Eglinton, a County Londonderry town 60 miles north of Belfast, but a fortnight of rain led to Hampshire taking only a point from their FP Trophy group A game against Ireland.

The game was officially abandoned following a 3pm inspection.

Hampshire's next FP Trophy game against the Nottinghamshire Outlaws at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday is now even more important - but the forecast is appalling.

If play had been possible today, 18-year-old Danny Briggs, a slow left-arm spinner from the Isle of Wight, would have made his Hampshire debut.

And Dimi Mascarenhas would have captained Hampshire for the first time this season after the England and Wales Cricket Board requested that he leave the Indian Premier League early to get some 50-over practice ahead of the one-day series against the West Indies, which starts on May 21.

Meanwhile, Nic Pothas (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (abdominal strain) are expected to be out for four and six weeks respectively.

And Marcus North, who was expected to make his one-day debut for the county today, will not be playing for Hampshire again this season after his return was blocked by Cricket Australia.

Hampshire squad: Michael Lumb, Michael Carberry, John Crawley, Jimmy Adams, Chris Benham, Sean Ervine, Dimi Mascarenhas (c), Liam Dawson, Dominic Cork, Tom Burrows (w), Billy Taylor, Danny Briggs, Hamza Riazuddin.