Ireland were without bowlers Boyd Rankin, Andre Botha and Dave Langford-Smith through injury, while batsmen Jeremy Bray and Eoin Morgan declared themselves unavailable and Peter Gillespie recently announced his retirement from international cricket.

Former Zimbabwe coach Simmons, who played 26 Test matches and 143 one-day internationals for West Indies, has been given a two-year contract until the conclusion of the 2009 ICC Trophy in the UAE.

And O’Brien, who plays county cricket for Northamptonshire, is convinced the next generation of Irish stars – Roger Whelan, Gary Kidd, Alex Cusack and Thinus Fourie – will form the basis of a future World Cup squad.

“It’s been a difficult time for Phil Simmons not having the players on hand who are contracted to English counties,” said O’Brien, who scored a battling half century.

“It’s been a difficult start for Phil – stepping into Adrian Birrell’s shoes after the World Cup we had was never going to be easy.

“I’ve not worked with him a lot but from what I hear from the other lads he’s a top coach with lots of ideas.

“He’s not had a first-choice team to pick from yet but the lads are really with happy with him and there are some wins around the corner – patience is needed.

“The Irish Cricket Union hasn’t got the finances to have the players on contracts but I’m sure something could be done to have us more often.

“We all love playing for our country but if the counties are paying our wages we’ve got to do what they say.

“There is an upside though and that’s seeing the younger players being given a chance at this level – all of the matches we will play in the next couple of years against the top sides will help us build for a shot at the 2011 World Cup.”

O’Brien is hopeful Ireland will raise their game sufficiently tomorrow to give the world’s second-best one-day side, South Africa, a run for their money.

Ireland came within a whisker of beating South Africa during a World Cup warm-up game in the Caribbean and O’Brien is banking on a big performance from Simmons’ next generation.

“Hopefully these matches will help to kick-start a successful second half to the season,” added O’Brien. “The boys have still got a lot cricket to play and the experiences they’ve had while I’ve been with Northants will help them improve.

“There are a lot of new faces in the camp compared to the one that finished in the Caribbean but the spirit is still great.

“South Africa have been consistently one of the top two teams in one-day cricket for the last five or six years and it’s great that they are over here to play against us.

“I’ve not a played a lot of cricket in the last few weeks and it’s great to be back on the field enjoying the one-day game. Hopefully we’ve got a big performance in us.”