Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie is expecting New Zealand to provide the stiffest examination yet of his side’s credentials when their one-off Test match gets underway today in Belfast.

If taking on the 2021 World Test Championship winners over four days at Stormont wasn’t hard enough in itself, Balbirnie will also be without two of his most experienced and trusted lieutenants: Paul Stirling and Barry McCarthy.

“We’ve played Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in their own conditions but from a quality and statistical point of view this New Zealand batting line up is probably the strongest we’ve come up against,” Balbirnie said.

“That’s the challenge of Test matches, though. Bar one, or maybe two Tests we’ve always been the underdogs — and that’s fine — but we have to make sure we play decent cricket and in those periods when we are on top we have to stay on top for as long as possible.”

While much of the pre-match focus was on Stirling’s absence from his home-town Test with a calf strain, Pembroke paceman McCarthy could prove a far bigger loss if the Stormont pitch is seamer friendly, as it was two years ago for the four-wicket win against Zimbabwe.

McCarthy, who will be out of action until next year with knee ligament damage, would have been Balbirnie’s quickest option with the new ball and also capable of energetic momentum-turning spells in the middle of the New Zealand innings.

“Barry’s a big loss. He hasn’t played a whole lot of Test cricket but he was with Durham in the county championship for a number of years and he has that experience of bowling at different times in the game, and different situations, and we’ll miss that.

“It’s a big setback for him but it is what it is and all we can do is make sure he gets the best care available and he gets back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

With injuries also ruling out Jordan Neill and Josh Little — and Curtis Campher playing solely as a batter — questions must be asked about the preparation of Ireland’s quicker bowlers and whether the lack of regular on-field cricket is the problem.

But Balbirnie prefers to look on the positive side and sees opportunities for bowlers normally on the fringes of the squad.

“The injuries test our depth, but that’s a good thing because with big tournaments, or down the line if there’s a Test Championship place for us, we have to ensure we have a squad of bowlers ready to go and this game will give an opportunity to a couple of new guys to see where they’re at.”

The Ireland skipper confirmed that in the absence of Stirling he would be opening the batting with Stephen Doheny, not Jake Egan, who scored a century in the Emerald Challenge last week.