Ireland's Boyd Rankin, who made his Test debut for England in 2014, said that he never thought of playing against the English side and called the situation 'pretty strange'.
Rankin's comments came ahead of Ireland's one-off Test match against the 2019 World Cup-winner England.
"It's going to be pretty strange for me because I know their guys so well. It is a dream come true and it is something I never thought would happen in my playing career," ICC quoted Rankin as saying.
Rankin called Test debut with England a big opportunity but admitted that he was not fully fit going into the game as he had injured his shoulder ahead of the match.
"I hurt my shoulder a few days before the Test and I wasn't fully fit going into the game. I felt I had to give it a go. It was one of those that I didn't know how bad it was until I got back home. In hindsight, I shouldn't have played, but when you get an opportunity to play Test cricket, it is one you want to take," he said.
Moreover, England lost the series and Rankin said it was a 'tough tour'.
"It was a tough tour to start with. I made my debut and it was a blur, to be honest. I have still got my shirts and caps. They will be cherished as that is a big part of where I have been," Rankin said.
However, Rankin has no regrets as he said: "I have no regrets. At that stage of my career, there were no real opportunities to play Test cricket for Ireland. That has changed now but at that time I wanted to play at the highest level and representing England was the only way I could do it."
Ireland, in 2011, secured a record-breaking win against England in the group stage of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2011. But Rankin stated that registering a Test match victory over England at Lord's will surpass their 2011 glory.
"Test cricket is Test cricket, it's going to be tough going. It's going to be really warm, a tough four days for us, but if we get a result here, then it is going to be hard to beat that," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
