Bateman retires from international hockey

HOCKEY: Irish first-choice goalkeeper at the recent European Championship Trophy Wesley Bateman has decided to retire from international hockey. The Cork player has cited the amount of commitment and time required to reach the levels expected now at the elite end of the game, writes Johnny Watterson.

Bateman was a pivotal player with Ireland when the team recently qualified for the World Cup preliminary event in China next April, a qualifying tournament for the World Cup finals. The side also earned a place in the elite European Championships in two years' time.

The Cork Harlequins engineer, who first played for Ireland against Pakistan in 2001 and went on to earn 40 caps, is the second player from the Irish team to retire since the Rome tournament three weeks ago. Pembroke and Ireland striker Gordon Elliott also called an end to his international career after 59 caps. The two principal goalkeepers on the panel now are brothers, 37-year-old Nigel and 26-year-old Charlie Henderson.

The qualification process for the Olympic Games is also to be restructured, delaying again the decision to award the hosting of the men's Olympic qualifying tournament. The Irish Hockey Association placed a bid to host the event in Dublin in 2008 and had been short-listed with three other nations. If successful, the tournament will be the largest hockey event in Ireland since the women's hockey world cup in 1994.

The decision on who would host the event was originally due to be made in June of this year, but was delayed until September's executive meeting. However, a proposal lodged to the IOC by the FIH, which changes the nature of the qualifying tournament and allows for more automatic qualifying places, has delayed the decision yet again.

CRICKET: Liam Plunkett has been called into the England squad for the tour of Pakistan as a replacement for the injured Simon Jones.

The 20-year-old Durham paceman was already selected for the one-day squad but will now play a full role in the tour, which remains scheduled to go ahead despite Saturday's massive earthquake which caused upwards of 20,000 deaths in Pakistan. Plunkett, born in Middlesbrough, took 51 wickets in the Frizzell County Championship for Durham last season as promotion from Division Two was secured.

Jones, a hero of the Ashes series, was ruled out by an ankle injury, allowing Plunkett to come into the squad.

"I've tried to perform well this year and to now be in the England Test squad is fantastic, I'm over the moon," said Plunkett. "Just to be a part of the Test squad is massive for me, even if I don't get to play in a Test match while I'm in Pakistan I'll learn so much from being around such a quality group of players."

TENNIS: The Davis Cup final between Slovakia and Croatia will be held in Bratislava's Sibamac Arena National Tennis Centre, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said yesterday.

Slovakia, who like Croatia are appearing in their first Davis Cup final, will hope to make it four wins in a row at the venue after victories over 2004 champions Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina. Croatia reached the final by defeating the United States, Romania and Russia. The final will take place from December 2nd-4th.

CYCLING: The former world champion Johan Museeuw and six other cyclists and four associates will have to wait until early next year to find out whether they face a criminal court hearing on drugs charges, a prosecutor's spokesman in the Belgian town of Kortrijk said yesterday.

Museeuw, 39, and the other accused, who include the triple world cyclo-cross champion Mario de Clercq, all deny the charges, which primarily relate to the possession of banned substances. They faced an initial hearing in Kortrijk yesterday, when prosecutors and defence lawyers delivered initial statements, but it was merely the latest stage in a scandal that goes back to a series of police raids in August and September 2003.

A further hearing will be held on December 6th. "From then on it will likely take several more weeks for a decision," said Tom Janssen, the spokesman for the prosecutor's office, adding that he expects a final ruling early in 2006.